Unplanned Reunion
by MasteringAMuggleLife
Summary: Ash, Brock and Dawn have a quick reunion with May, Drew and Max when Misty drops out of the sky, literally! Gary and Ritchie join the group as they learn that Giovanni has finally had enough of the group of teenagers and a bounty has been put on their heads! Will this Unplanned Reunion prove to hard as the teenagers face; death, jealousy and... Hormones?
1. Chapter 1

Pokémon Fanfiction

**[A/N:**

**Ages are as follow...**

**Ash: 16**

**Brock: 18**

**Dawn: 14**

**May: 15**

**Max: 10**

**Drew: 16**

**Also there's a mix match of Pokémon! Enjoy?]**

Chapter 1

"It's been a while since you've seen May and Max, huh Ash?" Dawn inquired. In the year that Ash, Dawn and Brock had been travelling together had not changed that much. She had continued to keep her rich navy blue hair fashioned in a half up half down fashion yet this could easily change on a daily basis. Her white beanie hat still lay contently on Dawn's head, just like it always had. Dawn had also continued to wear her pink Ugg boots however had recently bought some new ones as her others were beginning to look a little run down with all of the walking they'd been doing, the pair sat in Dawn's overly large, pink fold over clutch bag, in case of an emergency. Dawn wore a pink and white stripy dress that cut off just before her knees, the dress seemed a little tight as it hugged Dawn's petite figure. Her black waistcoat wrapped around the top of her body and laced up at the front almost like a corset. The fifteen year old had long abandoned her scarf and replaced this with an expensive white watch which hardly ever left her wrist. Johanna (Dawn's mother) had sent it to her three months ago on Dawn's birthday and instantly Dawn had fell in love with it. Around Dawn's neck was a love heart shaped necklace that was kept on a thin chain, the boys weren't really sure when Dawn had gotten it or who off, nor were they too bothered by it, but Dawn vividly remembered receiving the package from her secret admirer.

"Yeah, sure was I wonder how she's been doing, the last time that I saw May she told us that she'd been travelling with her rival, Drew. I hope everything worked out from them." Ash replied in a polite tone and then added on, "it was sort of weird not having her around at first so it'll be great to finally catch up and hear all of her stories about her journeys." Ash didn't notice Dawn's jaw tighten nor did he see her whole posture stiffen and he definitely didn't take note of the way Dawn's knuckles turned white as her nails dug into the palms; she simply was not pleased with his reply. "So you've missed her then? May that is." Continuing her interrogation Dawn remained in shock from his last answer. "Of course I have! I'm just glad that she hasn't been alone and has had Drew to travel with, I'm pretty sure that Max started travelling with them as well, so she was never really a cause for concern." To this Dawn relaxed a lot more, maybe more satisfied with this reply. Ash simply shrugged off the rest questions and asked a question of his own, "what's the time Dawn?" Dawn checked her white bracelet before replying and Brock finally returned to the conversation after being in the bathroom freshening up. "If that really is the time we best be getting off after all we don't want to be late for our reunion now do we?" The two youngsters shook their head and packed up everything they would need for the day after doing so they left the Pokémon Centre that they had stayed the night at. At the front desk of the Pokémon Centre they collected up their rested Pokémon and headed to the cafe, this obviously came after another failed attempt to lure Nurse Joy on a date with Brock- but that's nothing new.

Finally, they approached the cafe where May's arms wrapped tightly around Ash's now broad frame much to the displeasure of Dawn. Dawn's forged smile greeted May, at this very moment she hated May but that didn't mean she was about to show it! "Max? Wow you sure have grown buddy!" Where there should have stood a short blue haired wanna be trainer now stood a lanky teenager dressed in a white button up top covered by a checkered green sweater vest, plain black pants and some sleek new trainers. When Ash met the nine year old he had been so eager to learn about Pokémon and now the ten year old's belt had six pokéballs attached securely onto it. Max seemed to have grown up a lot but still rocked a nerdy fashion, giving him a second glance Ash realised he may have grown but the bookworm certainly hadn't changed.

Stood next to Max was Drew who appeared fairly distant compared to the rest of the group but then again Drew had never really knew Ash, Brock or Dawn that well. Drew leaned against the wall trying to look cool as per usual, he sort of reminded him a lot of Gary but a lot less egotistical. A long sleeved black top hung from his body while the purple hoodie tightened the top as if it was a belt in addition he wore some blue jeans and trainers. Around Drew's neck were some black bulky headphones that attached to a piece of black wire that drifted off into Drew's pocket, it was most likely connected to Drew's mobile phone. Drew, still the same size as May, hadn't changed much either but Dawn detected the shine in the young co-ordinators eyes as when he searched May visually, this put a smile on her face.

The last of the three had her hair tied up to the back of her head in a messy bun, long strands of hair had fallen out of her bun and now framed her beautiful face, which hadn't changed much either. Small yet decorative orange flowers sprouted from her hair style making her honey coloured hair appear more radiant and glossy than it already was. May's untucked white blouse clung to her hips and cleavage, while her black shorts circled her legs nicely. A floral peach rucksack hung from her shoulders, the pattern matching her white doc martins perfectly. She was stunning; from her tanned, toned legs to her electric blue eyes. She was flawless and even though May was not self conceited she knew that she was pretty. May's smile lit up her face as she showed her pearly whites enclosed by her love heart shaped cerise lips. Dawn really hated her.

Brock's eyes lit up at the sight of May as his jaw dropped to the floor comically. Down on one knee he grabbed both of May's hands causing Drew to flinch and stare angrily at the man stood proposal style in front of May. Ash just sweat dropped at the vision, he knew exactly what was about to come next. Before giving the chance to further embarrass himself Max grabbed Brock's ear and forcefully dragged him away whilst muttering loudly "that's my sister dude!" The whole group- including Drew- stifled a laugh at the sight. _"Nope nothing has changed,"_ thought Ash to himself. As he looked at the eighteen year old be dragged by the ear, images of a certain red headed gym leader popped into his head. Ash both physically and mentally shook his head to clear the thought causing all of the companions to stare at him, all puzzled by his actions. "Should we go inside?" Brock took lead of the conversation before the awkward silence could dictate the rest of the reunion. Everyone else agreed and played follow the leader.

Inside, the cafe was decorated like an old diner. The place had style and a black and red theme ran throughout the place. Small circular tables were dotted everywhere each with a black and white chess board pattern printed on the top of them. The chairs were puffy and looked similar to race car seats, they were covered by black leather and each seat had its own personal pattern down the side of them. At the back was a double door presumably leading to a kitchen area. At the bar stood a young lady with brown hair and eyes wearing a blue dress and an apron around her waist.

Before Brock had the chance to proclaim him undying love to the unknowing teen girl Max interjected and began to order for himself. Following his lead the rest of the group ordered leaving a deflated Brock to miserably order on his own. The group of one young adult, four teenagers, and one child sat so that the two groups of companions sat opposite one another at the biggest table in the cafe. For the first time Ash noticed that Max was carrying a rose coloured egg that had hot pink swirls all over it. That red headed gym leader flashed in Ash's mind again _"I should really call her..." _While Ash was in his own little world Max was explaining how he had come to hold the egg. "So we went to visit Nicolette's ranch, who by the way has finally set off on her journey and has already entered a contest for co-ordinators. She and Vulplume are supposed to be doing great. But later on a fire broke out and without my help we would never have been able to get all of the Pokémon eggs out of there so to thank me Christopher gave me an egg! I can't wait for it to hatch." Max explained in more detail and then asked Ash, "isn't that cool?" Ash was still in his own little world _"I wonder if she's okay..."_ Max became frustrated that Ash wasn't listening to him after he had spent a whole year listening to his stories, "Ash!" Max shouted but failed to gain Ash's attention. "_If I don't stop thinking about her now then I'm never going to stop!"_ Ash shook his head again, once he'd finished he looked up to see all his friends staring at him like he had two heads. _"What are they staring at?"_ Dawn, in a concerned voice turned to Ash and asked "are you okay?" Now it was Ash's turn to be confused "sure, why wouldn't I be?" Everyone returned to their discussion but would often shoot a glance in Ash's direction.

After Ash joined in with the conversations the awkward silence just seemed to drift away as the group of friends began to reminisce on old memories and share new stories. Laughter sprung loudly from each of the teens, by the end everyone's ribs were aching from the constant laughter. It had been a while since Ash had really laughed like this.

Sometime during the catch-up Ash, Brock and Dawn noticed the odd glances shared by Drew and May as they sat opposite one another at the table. The two eventually broke out into a silent game of footsies under the table that was until May accidentally hit Ash- hard.

Once the food had been cleared and bills paid the group stepped outside to figure out what course of action to take next, of course this was not after Brock gave it another attempt to seduce the waitress, needless to say he failed. "So where do you guys fancy heading off?" Asked Ash. "I could do with heading to the Pokémon Centre, my Pokémon are pretty beat after today's journey," explained Max, Drew and May both seemed to agree with this statement. "Well I need to get some training in, I've got an important match coming up so why don't we catch up later? Sit by the campfire for time's sake and have a proper chat? I'm sure Brock won't mind cooking something up would yah Brocko?" Everyone in the group seemed to agree that Ash's idea was a good one. "Wow Ash I think that's the best plan I've ever heard- from you that is. Finally using that brain of yours?" May even rapped on top Ash's head a couple of times as a quick demonstration. As the group was about to part into their two separate parties a large object obscured the sun leaving the six trainers and the two Pokémon stood in a very large shadow.

Blocking the light was a large balloon but to the surprise of the group the balloon was different to that they were used to seeing. The balloon was plain black with the two letters 'TR' carved on the surface in blood red. In the woven basket below we're two male figures wearing black masks and what appeared to be a uniform of some sort. The teenagers recognised who they were instantly, "team rocket!" The group shouted out in unison quickly getting into their battle stances.

"What do you want?" Demanded Ash, he was angered that the lovely reunion had to be spoiled by these two pathetic losers.

"For a start we'd love that Pikachu of yours," shouted down one of the rockets. To this Ash snarled and subconsciously rubbed the top of Pikachu's head, in return Pikachu let out and affection "chaaaa." Cockily Ash provoked the rocket, "what this Pikachu?" A dashing smile adorning the young teens face, he hoped he'd get on the nerves of the two rockets before he blasted them off. "The exact one, give it to us." Compared to the usual three bumbling idiots sent by team rocket Ash sensed something different about these two rockets, something more vicious. "Not a chance!" Shouted Max who came closer to stand next to Ash, pokéball in hand. May, Brock, Dawn and Drew joined him, all prepared to fight. "I think you will or else your little friend is going to get hurt. You don't want to be the one who caused _her_ all that pain now do you?" Instinctively Drew stood in front of May as did Ash to Dawn. The six friends released their Pokémon and an army of thirty four Pokémon stood in front of their ground protecting their now smirking trainers. "Oh you thought we were talking about them? No I was talking about _her_." And with that the rocket picked something- or rather someone- from the bottom of the basket. His hand wrapped the girls arm, she seemed dizzy and was unable to stand straight without support.

Ash's breath caught in his throat, _"Misty..."_

**[A/N:**

**Me: Woop! The start of my first real series! *Happy dances***

**Ash: Wha- What is she doing?**

**Misty: *Sweatdrops* I think that she's dancing...**

**Max: And I thought I was a bad dancer...**

**Brock: Guess it's up to me then, MasteringAMuggleLife doesn't own Pokémon, you know the rest... Right?**

**May & Drew: REVIEW!]**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**[A/N: **

**Honestly don't think it's as good as my first chappy, I don't like the last bit... But tell me what you think and sorry if it disappoints! Okies so ahead you go!]**

Misty awoke in the bottom of a hot air balloon basket; it was uncomfortable to say the least. Binding her wrists and ankles were pieces of rope that with each small movement burnt into her now raw skin. Pain kicked her ribs, at the same time the pains attacked Misty's head rendering her brain into a useless mush. She felt useless but she would not give up. Somehow she'd get out of this! Misty felt an arm curl around her waist and harshly drag her up on to her feet, her legs felt like jelly and she could feel them about to give away right from beneath her. Somehow Misty managed to lift her head up and focus on the ground a group of people stood in a line staring up at them. Misty's gaze focused on a certain raven haired person, _"no it can't be... It's probably this crap that they injected into me just messing with me! It isn't him!" _

"Let her go! She hasn't done anything, just let her go!" Ash demanded and in a light concerned voice he added, "Please..." Only Dawn picked up on this and scowled up at the red head.

"Oh contraire you've all done something, but don't worry it's not our job to dispose of you. We're just here for the Pokémon! So hand them over and she doesn't get hurt... Anymore." The last bit was added as though it were an inside joke between the two rockets, this only added to Ash's anger. His fists clutched tight as he felt blood trickling through the cracks, escaping from the cuts caused by his fingernails. The rockets taunting didn't end there. "C'mon I know she's weak but-" the rocket was interrupted by none other than his own capture.

Misty heard the word 'weak' she sobered up and quick. No one could call her weak. Who was this guy to stand here and call her weak, did he know what she'd had to endure through her life? He bloody well did not! She would make him pay. He would feel her wrath and he would know who he had just called weak, he would regret it!

Misty lifted her tied wrists and with all the force she could muster she punched the rocket- hard. The next thing the opposite force was enough to push the flustered teenager over the side of the balloon. Still bound there was nothing more she could do, her breath was knocked out of her and she felt the world fade into the blackness the next thing she remembered was a chorus of gasps and Ash calling her name.

The next minute passed so slowly for Ash, with every bit of energy he could gather he used it in next few actions, "Swellow, go catch Misty and try and slow her down as much you can!" It were times like this that he missed his old pal Charizard who could of dove in and saved the day, if he listened to him that was but then again Ash had no doubt that if he knew the situation he would've quickly flown to Misty's rescue without hesitation or even orders. However Ash had confidence in Swellow and at that moment in time all he knew was that he _needed_ to save her. He _needed_ her to be alright. Swellow managed to lower Misty into Ash's strong arms. The rest of the group stood surprised wondering what had just happened, all stayed planted to their places still trying to take in the scene. Ash lowered Misty to the floor to check she was still breathing, she was. A joyous smile played on Ash's face as the relief sprung over him.

He began to unknot the ropes starting with her ankles. Once the rope was unwrapped from around Misty's wrists he held them rubbing his thumb over the red marks bruising her beautiful skin. He started to panic when she didn't actually wake up. "What if she's suffered some type of concussion?" Ash stared at her face, she was not the same girl that left him all those years ago! "Pikachu?" Pikachu instantly knew exactly what Ash was asking of him, Pikachu nodded. "Be gentle okay?" Pikachu nodded again and let out a "Pika" of agreement. Ash cradled Misty so that she wouldn't have to go through the quick flash of pain alone. Ash tensed as the yellow shock absorbed the two. Misty didn't so much as flinch... Ash found his arm reaching to caress her face and remove some of the stray strands of her now long hair (he always did prefer it down) behind her ear. He turned back to Pikachu and nodded signalling the neck shock. Pikachu did as ordered and shocked his two best human friends. This jolt was stronger than the last and Misty felt herself bolting upright in reaction, her eyelids fluttering open.

She took in the lime green of the grass and the way it met with the denim blue sky in the far distance. Before given any chance to escape a pair of strong well toned arms wrapped themselves around her, at first Misty stiffened but soon relaxed into the hug, something about it seemed strangely familiar. A hot breathe could be felt on the back of her neck and for some strange reason it calmed her. Ash burrowed his face in her hair and breathed in the sweet smell of strawberries he'd missed so much.

The rest of the group eventually fell out of their hopeless trances and rushed to Misty's side offering her whatever they could whether it be food, drink or comfort. Max and Brock had been the first to set off towards the couple, followed by an agitated Dawn lastly followed by May and Drew, their hands interlocked. Misty made her way around the group and hugged everyone and was introduced to Drew and Dawn. May was thrown a few facial expressions about Drew from Misty who had very clearly been the only one to have noticed May and Drew's hand holding incident- which they were both slowly recovering from by distancing themselves away from one another, only causing Misty to grow more suspicious. May knew she'd have some questions to answer when they got back to the Pokémon Centre. Although she didn't feel fine Misty brushed off all the questions insisting that she "was okay" so not to appear weak.

Ash took leadership of the group and suggested returning to the Pokémon Centre after all May, Max and Drew had wanted to head over there beforehand. "But what about your training?" Asked Dawn quizzically only taking her eyes off Ash to send Misty a few disapproving looks. To this Ash simply replied "missing one day won't hurt." In all honesty Ash didn't want to leave Misty alone after everything had just happened plus he'd only just got her back and he was not sure if he'd be able to ever let her ago again! "Ash Ketchum! You will not just blow off your training! If it's me your worried about, I'll be fine I'll go with May, Max and Drew while you train and we can all meet up later."

"What?! No way I leaving you after all that plus it'll be nice to spend some time with my best friend, is that too much to ask?" Ash pulled out all the stops and even stooped as low to use his puppy dog eyes. How could she resist? "Oh whatever!" Fire practically blazed from Dawn's eyes. _"This cannot be happening!" _

In no time the group where right back where the story started. May , Max, Drew and Misty booked their rooms for the night and handed over their Pokémon to Nurse Joy. Brock provided entertainment in the form of another rejected proposal from Nurse Joy. Misty cracked her knuckles, smiled and said, "now this I've missed." Misty brought back many memories for Ash and Brock as she forcefully dragged the older teenager away muttering about how much of an embarrassment he was. Misty went for a shower and when she returned Brock began to babble, his face red as he went back into his 'pretty girl mode'. Even though Ash knew Brock held no romantic feelings towards the gym leader it still miffed him off, Ash was ready to go and rip Brock's ear off at this point yet was never given the chance as Misty managed to push the young adult to the floor with one easy movement. After this the whole group seated themselves in the lobby prepared to have a nice chat.

Ash took this time to observe Misty, she wore sea green skinny jeans that hugged her slender legs while her top half was covered by a plain white t-shirt that in all honesty was a bit tight- not that he was complaining, of course! Deep green hi-tops covered her feet while green, blue, white and black bangle bracelets decorated her wrists. She wore her hair down, it had a natural curl and it gently cascaded over her shoulders, running down to her mid back. She was slim and it was obvious she was toned, most likely from her daily swim routine. Her skin remained pale, almost white but not in a sickly way, most definitely not, it was more like silk, it was beautiful- she was beautiful. Whilst her cheeks burned a slight pink her cerulean green eyes that would often appear blue were barricaded by long black eyelashes that embodied her eyelids. She was a vision!

"You'll never guess who I saw yesterday Ash!" Ash snapped from his 'observations' and faced the beauty with a tone of curiosity he asked, "who?" Misty let a smile come across her face and she went to explain. "Ritchie! I went to the cerulean beach yesterday; he was visiting home before travelling over here to start collecting badges." To this Ash smiled, Ritchie was a great competitor and Ash wondered how much he had bettered himself at Pokémon, _"I wonder if I could beat Ritchie now?"_ Even Brock was interested at this, Ritchie had practically been a clone of Ash and the four had become good friends. "How's he doing?" Asked Ash after reminiscing over their last meeting in Whirl Islands. "Actually he's great, he's really improved on his battling strategy! We had a nice little catch up in the cafe near the gym, he told me all about his journey so far, says he's planning on coming over here to compete in the tournament! I wonder who'd win if the two of you battled again..."

Without hesitation Ash answered, "well I think the answers obvious there!" He pointed himself to show that he thought that he would win in a battle against Ritchie. "I don't know Ash, Ritchie's gotten pretty good, he's spent every waking minute he could battling I'm not even exaggerating!" Misty's statement had really deflated Ash's ego, _"how could _she_ say that?"_ Ash began to unconsciously pout, Brock noticing the brewing tension decided to step in- "so you seen anyone else we know?"

"Well there's Tracey, but him and Daisy have moved into together now." Brock stared at Misty a hurt expression contorting his face. "D-Daisy? Your sister Daisy?"

Misty completely missed Brock's upset expression and continued, "yea they're engaged! Isn't that great? Oh and don't tell Tracey not that you ever contact any of your old friends" a sideways glance caused Ash to sweat drop. "Daisy's pregnant, she only found out last week but she's really excited she's going to be a great mom! Plus it'll be my first niece or nephew, I can't wait!" This time it was Ash's turn to save Brock who appeared to be fighting a mild breakdown over the new news.

"So Mist, how'd you get captured by those idiots? Thought you were smarter than that." Ash knew exactly what he was doing provoking the hot headed girl sat on a sofa with Brock and Max opposite him. This time the rest of the group leaned in, finally glad to be involved in a bit of the conversation or at least able to decipher who people being mentioned were at least. But unfortunately Misty's reaction was not one that he was happy to hear, not at all! "Crap! I need to call Gary!"

Brock was brought out of his own little world and turned to see his friend. Sure him and the researcher had settled their differences but the two had been rivals too long to forge a real friendship, their friendship was the rivalry, they barely trusted the other. Brock was cautious wondering how Ash would take this piece of information but at the same time his curiosity got the better of him and he sat back ready to hear why Misty _needed_ to get in contact with the egotistical teen.

"Gary? Why'd you need to call _him_?" Brock could sense the anger in his voice, but very cleverly masked by curiosity. Brock turned to Misty who just looked at Ash ready to explain. "I was on the phone to him when I was taken by those two, I need to let him know I'm okay." Ash thought about her answer, _"she was on the phone with him? What? Why? Since when? Ugh stupid Gary... That jerkface..."_ Misty headed over to the videophones located on the far side of the lobby, everyone (with the exception of Ash) headed up to Brock and Ash's room so that they could give Misty her privacy.

Ash watched as the red head dialled in Gary's number which Ash noted Misty knew by heart, adding to Ash's distain towards his 'x' rival.

A worried face appeared on the screen before them whilst his hair seemed more deflated than usual, his brow creased in discomfort and his eyes glazed over in thought. Something had clearly upset the teen boy sat in Professor Oak's lab. "Misty?! Thank God you're okay, what the hell happened?" The boy's frown was exchanged for a gleeful smile directed at the redhead, _"I really hate this guy!"_

"Hey Gary! Listen I'm fine, really. I'm in Sinnoh, Ash is here!" Ash took that as his cue to absentmindedly wave at Gary whose response was a lot friendlier than he would have imagined, "Ashy-Boy? Hey, haven't seen you in a while, you okay?" Ash took back what he said earlier, _"Maybe he isn't so bad after all?"_ Allowing himself to smile and relax his tensed limbs he replied, "yeah everything's good here, even better now that my best buddies here though!" Misty smiled back at boy that she now realised had matured so much, _"God he's hot! ...Wait, what?"_ Quickly Misty recovered from her brain lapse and listened intently to Gary. "So Red, why don't I drop by yours pick you up some clothes and drop them off, I was heading over there anyway, it's my next research post. Plus you could use some vacation time, so whatcha say?" She contemplated over the offer, _"wait this means she could travel with us again, Gary I'm so glad we're friends!" _Ash thought waiting in anticipation for Misty's answer. "Sure, why not, I mean it can't do any harm and you're right I do need some vacation time. Sure you don't mind?" At that moment in time Ash's brain went into overdrive and he just stood there smiling goofily at the screen. "No problems Mist, gives me a chance to look through your underwear drawer," as if that wasn't bad enough Gary then went on to wink at the gym leader whilst wearing his most seductive smile. _"He's an asshole!" _Misty just ignored this and rolled her eyes, "I think I'll get Daisy to pack my bag and anyway it's not like you haven't seen what's in there already!" Misty winked back and before Ash could comprehend what was actually happening the conversation had ended between the three and the screen faded into black.

_"I demand answers! What the hell was that? We're they flirting? Gary's seen- Wait no... What do I care? I care because she's Misty! And who the hell does he think he is calling her 'Mist' that's what I call her and me only! Uh... I hate that guy!"_

Misty was well unaware of the raging Ash. "I'll just call my sister and we can head up okay?" Not even taking in Misty's sentence Ash began his line of interrogation... "What is going on between you and Gary?!"

**[A/N:**

**Misty: I would never let Gary see my underwear!**

**Gary: Why babe, you know you want me!**

**Misty: *Gets out the mallet and chases Gary***

**Brock: Why does our screen time always get cut?!**

**Me: *Trying to stop Misty killing Gary* Uh... I swear you'll be in the next chapter more! I swear!**

**Ash: You go Misty! *Fist pumps air***

**May: Stop encouraging her Ash! We need Gary!**

**Drew: And why would we need Gary?**

**Ash: Yeah May, why?**

**May: ...**

**Me: *Still chasing Misty* Dawn could you?**

**Dawn: *Fixes hair, smoothes out dress and clears throat* MasteringAMuggleLife does not own Pokémon!**

**Me: Brock do the last bit?**

**Brock: Give us more screen time and maybe...**

**Me: *Restraining Misty* JUST DO IT!**

**Brock: REVIEW! DO IT! Please... I don't wanna die... *Bursts out crying*]**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**[A/N:**

**Okay so, I've tried to fix my mistakes in my last two chapters and also I've added a couple more sentences but it's really not important because they're only tiny little things. Also I was asked to make Dawn more irritating so here, I hope this is better :) Oh and I wanna say thanks for everyone who has been reviewing! It means a lot. Oh and I almost forgot I want to apologise I literally started this chapter two hours ago so it's a little rushed but I get results tomorrow and I need an early morning so I can go pick them up... So with that let me just add-**

**Gary: 16**

**Go ahead and read already! ^_^ Thanks!]**

"What are you talking about Ash?" Misty was completely bamboozled after all this guy who claimed to be her best friend had not called or wrote or even made the effort to text her in the past two years, what right did he have to ask such a question? _"Wait, did Ash just pick up on flirting?"_ While Misty pondered the question Ash started to tap his foot impatiently whilst folding his arms tightly. "Well?" Misty did not like his tone and snapped straight back to reality prepared to slap some sense back into the childish teen stood before her. "Nothing is going on, not that it's any of your business!"

_"What the actual hell! What does she mean it's none of my business of course it is!" _Ash's mind went into overdrive and he felt his hands ball up into fists. "Of course it isn't..." He said through gritted teeth but after saying it he could no longer stand to look at his best friend, so he stormed up to his room hoping to calm down, hoping that Brock knew what to do. Although she was extremely upset by her friends actions she carried on to call her sister so that she didn't forget.

In Brock and Ash's room a pleasant conversation was being undergone, well that was until Ash stormed into the room... "Ash? Ashy what's wrong?" Dawn was the first to speak; she ran over to the angered boy and grabbed hold of his arm only for it to be jolted away from her. He did not look happy! "Ash whatever it is you can talk to me, you know that right?" When Dawn got no reply she stroked Ash's face with her hand and he looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "You're going to be okay." Ash placed his hand on top of hers- _"oh my God, this is it,"_ –and removed it from his face, he let his head drop again and his arms hung loosely as he dropped onto his bed which was conveniently vacant. No doubt Dawn felt dejected but sat down next to him all the same and placed her hand on top of his, surprisingly enough he did not move his hand to reasons unknown to Dawn (he just did not have the energy) but that did not matter she was just glad that he was finally 'accepting' her advances.

Brock had been eyeing up the young man, Ash was like one of his younger brothers so it was very easy to read him. _"Misty... I wonder what happened, maybe it was an argument that got out of hand, or maybe it was Gary, perhaps he said something to upset Ash- that does sound like something Gary would do."_ Brock then moved his observation over to the girl sat on the bed with him, he stared at her hands on top of his _"now this is intresting_." Sure Brock liked Dawn, she was a nice girl but never in a million years did he imagine she would fall for him! But then again once Brock had mulled the idea it did not seem so foreign, now that he thought about it they had not met many girls that hadn't fallen for the blatantly oblivious boy. _"Damn that Ash!"_

Meanwhile all this was going on Drew and May where having a poke war, they had quickly grown bored of the drama surrounding their friend, it wasn't that they didn't care it just seemed as though his little tantrum would not be over something life threatening. Many pokes were thrown around. May felt a little guilty for not paying much attention to her friend in need but then again _"what's a girl to do when her crush slyly pokes her in the cheek- wait, crush? No I mean Drew, just Drew. Drew is my travelling companion, just that, right? Right!" _May felt the bridge of her nose highlight in rose pink and she tried to hide the distinct blush by burying her face into a pillow close by, though this unexpected movement did not go unnoticed by 'just Drew' who began to become worried when she did not resurface.

Whilst all this was going on Max observed from afar; his sister that was currently trying to cover up the fact that she had a gigantic crush on Drew who in turn was trying to comfort her without much luck. At the same time Brock was sat thinking most likely about Ash who looked like he was on the verge of grabbing Dawn and throwing her through the window despite this Dawn carried on attempting to soothe the boy with her 'comforting' words. At that very moment Misty sauntered in but not before politely knocking. _"And the drama continues"_ thought Max as his eyes scrolled across everyone in the room, May had shown her face which by the way no longer held a pink tinge, Drew was still trying to figure out what was wrong with her- it was safe to say the two hadn't noticed the tension that was currently unfolding. Brock shuffled uncomfortably in his seat as his eyes gazed from the couple on the bed to the girl standing half-in half-out of the room, hidden behind the door. Ash quickly withdrew his hand from under Dawn's and in a burst of energy got to his feet and stared at the girl. Unhappy with the present situation the young teen remained sat on the bed and stared at the red head with disgust, this did not go unnoticed by Max and Brock. _"I think I'll stay out of this one."_ This was definitely one of Max's better ideas as he slouched down in his chair and wondered how great it would be to have popcorn right at that moment in time.

"Ash? I, erm, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have flipped on you like that; I was just surprised you were practically shouting at me, you know I don't handle being shouted at very well." At first Ash was too shocked to even comprehend what was being said to him, _"did she just apologise? A better question would be: did she just apologise- to me?"_ Without thinking Ash took large strides to reach his friends side and carefully enveloped the girl in a tight hug, to which she reciprocated by placing her head on his shoulders and holding him tightly. Brock and Drew very immaturely began to wolf whistle at the two while May just knowingly smiled, _"well that was not as eventful as I thought it would be, where was the argument? This was not a popcorn worthy matter."_ An unimpressed Dawn sat biting down on the inside of her mouth, "who does she think she is? She just turns up and steals my man? _No. This is not happening. Keep it together Dawn, you'll get him back no need to worry, it's not like she's even that pretty... Right?"_ Dawn composed herself and directed her eyes to another direction.

Once the hug was over Ash began to speak, "so do you wanna travel with us again? It'll be fun!" A wide smile swiped across her face and in that moment Ash knew what her answer would be, but then the more he thought about it if he invited Misty wouldn't he be obliged to invite Gary along? On the other hand who was to say that Gary would want to tag along? For some reason Ash couldn't help but get a sensation that was chipping away at this comfortable idea, something was telling him that he would want to tag along. _"Could I handle Gary travelling with us? But if I don't ask him does that mean that Misty will still travel with us? Nope, she is coming with us even if it means I have to invite that jerk!" _

Misty engulfed the young man into another hug, "I'd love to Ash, thank you so much!" As quickly as it happened Misty retracted from the hug and faced everyone else in the room, "I really don't want to intrude, would it be okay with everyone else if I came along?" Instantly May was reassuring her that it was fine with her and her two companions who would only be travelling with the rest of the group for a couple more days, until they'd seen Ash's match that was. Brock was the next, "don't be silly Misty, it'll be great to travel with you again considering you and Ash keep your arguments to a minimum." This put a smile on the young gym leaders face, "I'll try my hardest!" Dawn was completely ignored a raging fire conjured up inside of her.

The next two days were spent catching up and training, much to the displeasure of Dawn Ash decided to replace her with Misty when training so Dawn, May and Drew took it in turns to battle one another and practice their co-ordinating strategies. Max spent his time rereading Pokémon profiles from his Pokédex and Brock spent his time grooming his Pokémon.

By the end of the second day, everyone had decided to take a break and headed over to the beach, of course no one had their swimming costumes but that didn't matter. They were all far too exhausted from the vigorous routine to even sit up! "Red?" A familiar voice sailed the afternoon breeze and before anyone knew it Misty was in the arms of a teenage boy around Ash's age. "Gary!" Ash forcefully removed the scowl off his face and shook hands with the boy in front of him. _"Play nice Ash, let's not end up killing him!"_ He told himself.

"Ash, good to see you again!" He seemed friendly enough... The rest of the group came over to welcome their new member of the group. _"Is, is that the Gary Oak, The famous teenage Pokémon researcher? He's just as gorgeous as he is on the magazine covers! Travelling with Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak? This is just a dream come true!"_ During Dawn's internal fangirling session the rest of the group began to talk and catch up. "You sure you're okay, Red? You know that I was really worried about you!" Misty rolled her eyes besides a constant headache, a bit of pain in her ribs and some bruises and scratches patterning her arms, she was fine. "Yes Gary, I am fine, but what was that you said? Was little Gary-kins worried about me?" Misty even pinched Gary's cheeks for good measure, a lot of the group burst out laughing and Gary felt his eyes lower into slits as he stared daggers into the young girl. Misty just looked at him and stuck out her tongue, at this Gary joined in the laughter after all he was not the stubborn kind of person. He lightly nudged the girl in good nature.

Gary noticed the face Misty pulled when she looked away, he may have only lightly touched her but it was clear to him that the girl was in pain, "Mist?" Gary grabbed Misty's wrist and twirled her around so that she'd stopped walking and was now looking directly into Gary's eyes. When everyone realised the two were no longer walking with them, they all turned in unison to see what the holdup was. "Now Mist, be honest with me: are you in pain?" Misty looked away, that was enough for Gary to determine an answer. Now not only angry with Gary but also himself, Ash began a war inside his own head_, "how could I have been so selfish? I never even find out how she got captured, hell I never even check that she was okay I was too busy training! Why didn't she tell me? Oh yeah that's right this is Misty; proud, stubborn, independent Misty, I should have known..."_ Misty was dragged back to the Pokémon centre but before she was taken to Nurse Joy for a check up she felt a vibration in her pocket indicating that she had a text message. It took a couple of minutes but Misty managed to slide the phone out of her jeans pocket although at this angle it wasn't easy to do, she opened up the text only to receive a worrying message from her sister.

'Misty, call me quick! Something's happened I need you! It's an emergency! ...Please? –Daisy x'

Daisy never sent Misty messages like this. Never! Misty reread the message over and over again despite being carried over the shoulder by Gary since she put up a struggle to go to the Pokémon Centre. _"What could possibly be wrong? What could be so important? And since when did Daisy beg?" _Misty's sister Daisy was usually so composed and relaxed, something is most definitely wrong thought Misty as she tried to see if she could get a signal but it seemed as though luck was not in her favour today.

Misty began to viciously kick and punch Gary in an effort to free herself from his unyielding grip. "You're not getting out Misty." Gary's stern voice rung through Misty's ears, she had to get out somehow, if she couldn't get out this way she'd have to try another way. Somehow Misty knew that Gary wouldn't believe her if she tried to tell him why she needed to call her sister, so she tried someone else... "Ash? Ash, I need your help." Ash just shook his head, God he looked miserable. It appeared he was beating himself up over something. Something was up with him but for now it would have to wait, she would most definitely discover what it is later. "Brock?" Who's only response was to reply in the same way Ash had. "May? Please May. Please. You have to listen to me!" Just looking into May's eyes Misty could see she'd hit a nerve, she could count on her best female friend. "You have to go to the Pokémon Centre Misty! What's so important?" Misty just handed over the mobile phone; once the message was read she looked up to Misty, concern in her eyes. "My sister never texts me like that! May, something's wrong... I just know it. I need to call her, please; I promise that I'll get the check up after." Misty was now pleading, begging- she felt as though she had no dignity left but this was family she needed to find somewhere that she could comfort her sister. "Please?"

"I'll see what I can do." May went straight over to Ash and showed him the message, he quickly picked himself up and stared at me holding mirroring my own concern, he knew Daisy, he knew that she would never text me something as urgent and pleading as that but most importantly he knew something was wrong. "Gary! Put her down, something's wrong." Everyone could tell from Ash's tone that he was not messing around, this was serious. Misty felt her feet touch the ground and the minute she did she sprinted the remaining way to the Pokémon Centre, followed by her friends, and over to the videophones.

In the hurry Misty wrote the wrong number in twice, fortunately for her it was third time lucky and all there was left to do was sit and wait. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long. The whole gang caught up the minute the screen flashed on to show the whole gang a side of Daisy Waterflower that no one had ever seen before, not even her own sister.

Something was undeniably wrong...

**[A/N:**

**Drew: Bit of a cliffy eh?**

**May: I thought we were getting more film time...**

**Brock: *Whining* You promised!**

**Misty: What's wrong with my sister?! I demand to know! *gets out mallet***

**Max: Oh God... *discreetly takes some steps back and pulls out some popcorn***

**Me: *Sweatdrops* Misty... Put. The mallet. Down. **

**Misty: Tell me!**

**Brock: Why are we always the background characters? Don't you love us? **

**Me: Misty you'll find out next week, Brock of course I love you! I promise next week- okay?**

**Brock: You promise?**

**Me: Of course!**

**Brock: Fine...**

**Misty: Next week?! *chases me with mallet* NEXT WEEK?!**

**Me: Drew? May? Do the last bit will you?**

**Drew: No you're Beautifly is great! *Hair flip***

**May: Awww you think? Well Roserade is totally amazing!**

**Ash: ...Stop flirting!**

**Drew: You're just jealous!**

**Ash: Nu-uh**

**Drew: Uhuh!**

**Me: ... Fine... Max?**

**Max: Yay, screen time! *Puts away popcorn and pulls out a microphone* Hello everyone this is Max Maple with MasteringAMuggleLife News, she does not own Pokémon or any of its characters, all she owes are the plotlines to the story. It would be greatly appreciated if you review this piece chapter; this has been Max Maple reporting, good night!]**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**[A/N: **

**I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, you're all great xD **

**This will be one of my shortest chapters but I still hope you like it! So forward march!]**

Sat on the other end of the receiver was a sickeningly pale Daisy who with glazed over eyes stared at absolutely nothing. Daisy's mouth was slightly agape, her lips were dry and in need of a good chap stick. The once luscious blonde hair that flew freely around the girl's petite figure was now a tangled mess. On the girls rough, white cheeks she wore red scratches that deeply engraved her skin. Makeup streaked down her tear stained face that was now blotchy and a tad red. This was not Daisy Waterflower. When her eyes finally met her sisters she felt the tears brew up within her once again so she brought her hands to her face as though to shield her sister from the sight.

Sure Misty had seen Daisy cry before but never like this, it was always over some trivial matter or a soon forgotten breakup. Never had she seen her sister cry so heartedly, it was painful just to watch. Different scenarios flashed through the teenagers head, _"Tracey's left her, Violet or Lily have been in an accident, she's lost the baby..." _That's when Misty noticed it, the blood. It discoloured her expensive outfit and encased her hands. There was a lot of it. For a moment Misty felt sick to her stomach, the nausea reaching her mouth only to return the journey it had come. Tears welled up in her own eyes but forced them to stay in their positions so that she could be brave for a sister, in a shaky voice she started to speak, "Daisy? Daisy, tell me what's happened."

At that moment Daisy allowed the tears to flow freely, she knew there was no way to stop them. They became more forceful making it harder for Daisy to breathe. She couldn't accumulate any words, not just yet. She felt her mouth open but when no words came she just shut it again and stared into the green eyes of her younger sibling.

"Daisy, is it Lily?" Daisy shook her head in response; her neck was rusty but managed to get the answer across. "How about Violet, has something happened to Violet?" Another head shake. "The baby?" Daisy felt even more tears scramble to escape from her eyes, she hadn't even thought about the baby! Daisy shook her head again. "Daisy, is it Tracey?" At the mention of his name she bowed her head, her sobs became harder and she was physically shaking.

Misty froze, _"Tracey..."_ Tracey and Misty had become close, by now he was as good as her brother. _"Daisy really loved him... I need to know what happened!"_ Misty placed her hand on the monitor to comfort her tortured sister and Daisy did the same on her side. "Dais you need to tell me what happened, do you think you can do that?" Daisy nodded in conformation and after a few failed attempts at starting the story she began, "they came... They... They said that they had had enough..." Daisy stopped to try and control her cries but when she realised there was no point she continued in between muffled sobs, "They told him that, that he had denied them for too l-long... And then I c-came in and they, they were going to shoot me. Misty you have to understand, they wanted to shoot me! I couldn't do anything, I couldn't help!" Daisy's voice became frantic as she attempted to explain the situation to get her sister to understand, _"she _has_ to understand!"_

Misty felt her sisters pain, she wasn't sure why anyone would want to hurt Tracey, he was one of the sweetest people she knew but then again she wasn't really too sure what these people were talking about. _"What do they mean by 'he's denied them for too long'?"_ Misty looked up, her own tears now freely flowing and she prodded Daisy to carry on.

"T-Tracey, he, he jumped in front of me and they shot him... Misty... Tracey's dead!" Misty stared at her sister, _"Tracey? Dead?" _Behind her she could hear someone sniffling. "Daisy where are you? Are you okay?" Daisy nodded and replied "I'm at the gym, I managed to get away and call Violet and Lily, there on their way. We're going to go somewhere safe for a while- lay low. But Misty... What am I going to do? They killed him... I love him... I c-can't!" At first Misty didn't know what to say, her body refused to co-operate with her brain, "Misty I, I didn't even tell him..." Dasiy's voice sounded even more pained although Misty doubted that was even possible, her voice barely a whisper, "about the baby..."

At that moment Misty felt herself break down. Tracey hadn't even known there was a baby and still jumped at the chance to protect her sister. She knew from that point on she'd be forever in Tracey's debt, one that she would never be able to repay. With one deep breath Misty turned around, everyone was quiet and those who didn't know Tracey had bowed their heads in respect- they may not have known Tracey but all of them had heard the wondrous tales of his, Misty and Ash's adventures together. Brock, who had met Tracey a couple of times and quickly bonded, had folded his arms and closed his eyes to try and stop the tears. It looked as though Ash's had been unsuccessful in doing so himself and had lowered his hat over his face, he was the source of the sniffling. Meanwhile Gary just clutched onto his stomach as the tears flowed. The cool Gary Oak facade had dropped- this was not a good sign. Looking at each one of her friends she realised one of them had to be strong. She turned in her seat to face her sister again.

Pain's travelled through her body once she laid eyes on her sister; her sister seemed so weak as though her fragile body could keel over at any minute. The restraint Misty held a moment ago completely vanished. "Daisy, I'm coming home! Listen to me I'm coming home." Daisy just shook her head and stared at her sister. "Misty, they're coming for you!"

Ash felt himself stiffen, the tears stopped as a consequence his hands closed in on themselves and his knuckles turned white. At the same time Ash felt as though his whole body was being stripped of precious power, he was useless. With his heart racing he felt sick to his stomach; he clung onto a nearby chair as the room spun. Alongside Ash, Brock placed both of his hands on Misty's shoulders to reassure her that they were there for her; the tears could wait right now there were more important things at stake. Brock, himself, felt weak wondering why anyone would even think about killing his friends but suppressed saying anything in the struggle to regain some composure. Brock's brotherly instinct kicked in and he lightly squeezed Misty's shoulders. On the other side of Brock a very pale Gary leaned against the wall for support still clutching his stomach if not tighter, staring obsessively at the screen. The three were unknowingly thinking the same thing, _"nobody is taking her anywhere!"_

Meanwhile May clung onto Drew by his shirt and her younger brother was determined to look anywhere but at the screen, _"if I don't look at the screen this won't be real."_ Drew just held May wondering what they had all gotten themselves into and then Daisy continued.

"... All of you."

To this everyone lifted their eyes to look at the screen; Daisy had a serious expression on her tear stained face whilst reciting this next piece of information. By now she had realised she could not cry because if she did they may not understand what it is that she was saying and she _needed_ for them to understand more so than anything. She had to protect her sister, it was her duty and in order to do that she needed the group to understand.

"Before running off I noticed a note in Tracey's hands I grabbed it before I left, he must have taken it from one of the men. It's a list of ten names including Tracey's."

"Who are the other ten on the list?"

"Ash Ketchum, Brock Slate, Misty Waterflower, Dawn Berlitz, May Maple, Drew Hayden, Max Maple, Gary Oak and Ritchie Hiroshi. Misty, I don't know what's going on but you need to get somewhere safe, try and find as many people on the list as you can and _get safe_!" Daisy's voice had a demanding undertone to it and all Misty could do was nod, it was hard to absorb all of this new information! "I have to go... Be careful all of you... And Gary, Ash?" Both boys looked up to see Daisy's mothering nature, "look after Misty for me?" Misty couldn't even retort to tell her sister that she didn't need looking after instead she sat staring at the floor trying to think- watching tears fall to the ground. The boys just nodded. The screen faded to black and a silence dawned over the group.

**[A/N:**

**Misty: *About to cry* Tracey's dead?**

**Ash: *Fiddling with hat and glaring at the floor* I can't believe he's gone...**

**Tracey: What are you guys talking about I'm right here!**

**Misty & Ash: *Tackles Tracey to the floor* Tracey!**

**Max: Is Tracey okay under there?**

**Brock: *Sweatdrops* Probably not...**

**May: Shouldn't we do something?**

**Drew: *Shakes head with a smile on his face and places his hand on May's shoulder* May, May, May. They've just found out that one of their best friends aren't actually dead, Misty and Ash would most likely kill you if you tried to stop them!**

**Misty: Don't you ever do that to us again Tracey Sketchit! *Hugs***

**Ash: I'm really glad you're okay Tracey! *Hugs***

**Tracey: Guys help, I can't... Breathe...**

**Me: ... I want to live Tracey, now I own nothing but you already know that...**

**Max: Review, for Tracey's sake!] **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**[A/N:**

**I just felt obliged to tell everyone, I LOVE TRACEY! He's awesome, it's an undeniable fact! But I had to have the group find out about being on the hit list. But think of it this way, what Tracey did was a noble thing, he died a true hero and at least part of him would live on (I couldn't bare killing Tracey off all together...) So let's all take a minute to think about Tracey's life. He was a great man and will be greatly missed! So it can only get better right? I don't know, why you all looking at me? O.o Jeez...]**

No one dared speak; they had somehow managed to crawl over to the lobby area and sat down, not one of the teens taking their focus from the suddenly entertaining floor. Everyone around them moved double the usual speed while the group where held in a temporary time bubble; held captive by their own self conscious'.

Max sat contemplating his life, complaining to his inner self on how much he still had to do. He had not yet travelled to Johto or Kanto, The Orange Islands or Sinnoh; he'd yet to venture into the depths of Unova. He hadn't entered his first Pokémon League yet, always holding it off until he knew he was ready, until he thought he had a definite chance of winning. The boy had only had one year of travelling and now he was stuck here twiddling his thumbs just hoping that he's have many more years to live out his dreams.

May consciously twirled a strand of honey coloured hair around her dainty figure as she thought about her brother, how little he really had done. It was all she could think about. She wondered how scared he was, if he was at all. _"Of course he's scared!"_ She scolded herself for being so irrational. She slouched against Drew, and wondered whether or not her brother was bothered about her at all, if he was scared to lose his sister. May pushed the idea to the back of her mind, _"nobody is going to die. Not me and most definitely not Max."_ May looked over to the deflated Drew, _"he will not die either" _May decided, obviously she controlled fate and whatever she said went- so Drew wouldn't die, Max wouldn't die and she wouldn't die. She looked around the group and then found her inner self screaming; _"DAMMIT MAY! NOONE'S GOING TO DIE! Get a grip girl, Max can't see you like this. Pull yourself together."_

Whilst May was holding a debate within her mind Drew was people watching. He asked himself how long each person had left, whether they knew it. _"Suppose you knew when you were going to die, what would you do before you could die?"_ Drew felt his eyes slide to look over to May who looked panicked. He allowed himself a slight smile, _"she looks cute like that..."_ Drew slipped his hands into hers and when she gave him a questioning look he offered a comforting smile which, he noted, she took with arms wide open, returning his gift.

Ash had a lump in his throat; he wanted to speak, to comfort his friends. He took deep, harsh breaths as he tried to calm himself. All of his muscles were telling him to run as fast as he could until he could run no more. Ash denied his body their needs, it would a selfish act plus he was not about to abandon his loyal friends. These people had been so much with him, for him. Ash peered at the faces of his group. All devastated, panicked, scared. Against his will he looked at Misty, she didn't look like any of those things. In fact she didn't look like she was even in there... Ash began to worry; she was usually the one you could rely on to be strong if she were broken then there was no hope. Repeating that over in his head Ash became more worried about her wellbeing, _"Misty, broken?" _He pulled his gaze away and forced himself to look at the floor; he needed to clear his head and figure out what was going on.

Misty's body was devoid of all emotion, her eyes vacant and her body lifeless but despite this Misty's mind was screeching for a help or a comfort that she knew she would never receive. She cried for Tracey, for her sister, for their unborn child who would now never have the chance to meet his or hers most heroic father. She still hadn't digested the news of Tracey's death, it was all so much. Tracey was so kind hearted and good, why would anyone ever wish to hurt him? The sound of her friends breathing was the only thing managing to keep her sane, reassuring her that they were still there. An arm laid itself around her shoulders and she turned to see Gary flash a smile that never met his eyes. She knew exactly what he was trying to do and it was working so she leaned into him and placed her head on his shoulder. A second later Ash planted himself next to Misty and she felt him grab her hand, she looked at him with her head still on Gary's shoulders, he nodded slightly in her direction. His puffy red eyes boarding into hers, she gave the same reassuring smile that she had just been given and saw it mirrored by Ash. Of course neither of the smiles met their eyes but it helped them to know that they were okay or at very least they would be. Misty's tears began to fall again so she shut her eyes so they couldn't escape but it seemed no use. The tears although silent burnt into her skin. _"I can't believe Tracey's gone..." _She let out a sigh as the news finally sunk in.

Gary stared at the wall, his stomach was doing somersaults and his mind was blank. Tracey had always been there for Gary back when he was an assistant for his Grandfather. When Gary looked over the room his eyes landed on Misty and he slung his arm over her not just to reassure her but also to reassure himself. At least he still had one friend. Even though Gary seemed like one of the most sociable and popular people, he found himself quite lonely back at the Oak Mansion, Tracey had been there for him the minute that he and Gary had properly met. It was only a year later when Misty came to visit Tracey that he and she had finally became friends. They were his friends. Tracey was his friend. Now these people were going to kill the last person that Gary was friends with? _"No, no they are not."_ Gary thought about how upset his Grandfather would be to lose the last connection to the Oak family that he had. _"I'm not going to put Gramps though that!"_ Incidentally Gary found himself squeezing Misty's shoulder for comfort.

Dawn sat alone in a chair holding tightly onto the material. "_I'm too young to die, I'm only fourteen... I've got so much I need to do! So many competitions to enter and win, so many guys to date and hopefully one to marry, so many children to be had! I will not die. If it comes down to it, it's me or them." _Dawn looked around the room; Ash was holding Misty's hand. _"Them."_ Dawn eyed up the girl sat on the sofa with the two boys, _"whore!" _Knowing her own limits Dawn looked away so not to claw Misty's eyes out (or at least try) simultaneously she squeezed her Pokémon situated on her lap.

Poor Pikachu sat curled up on Ash's head, since the news of Tracey death he'd drowned himself in self pity. Right now the yellow ball of fur needed a big full bottle of yummy ketchup. Pikachu thought up an image of Tracey in his mind but quickly abandoned it as he felt water droplets prick at his eyes. The Pokémon sat wide eyed viewing the room with a whole new perspective. Pikachu would do whatever it took to protect his trainer and friends. Electricity coursed from out of his cheeks as he thought of the people that were currently hunting them. _"No-one shall hurt them!"_ Pikachu's anger burnt his insides additionally his eyes narrowed into slits. Blame fell upon whoever had hurt his friend Tracey and they would pay.

Marill was being cradled in Misty's arms crying into her stomach. The Pokémon could do nothing else. Tracey was like Marill's father... Excruciating pain travelled her body and all she wanted was for it to stop, for Tracey to be okay. Marill did eventually stop crying and absentmindedly took to reminiscing about all the time Tracey had babysat, or the one time Tracey had fed all the Pokémon at the gym when Misty was ill, or even all the times he came over to visit his Fiancé- never once had he failed to take a detour to visit Marill.

In all honesty of everyone in the room, Pinplup was the most confused. Unfortunately she couldn't really grasp the concept of what was happening around her. However Pinplup was not stupid she knew that whatever was going on was not good. She remained silence and watched the events play before her. In her owners lap she sat patiently awaiting an explanation.

Brock nervously tapped his fingers against the hard mahogany wood of the coffee table, focusing on the beat in his best effort to focus his mind, to calm himself and to try and work out a way out of the situation. Brock pushed his unsettling stomach out of the way and watched his fingers dance across the glossy brown surface. _"I wonder how everyone else is doing..."_ Brock chanced a look at the rest of his friends. Max, usually so together looked as though he was about to have a panic attack with his wide eyes and tensed figure hunched over the seat. May and Drew were holding hands, _"so this is what it takes for Drew to man up?"_ The two looked more relaxed than any others in the group yet their stiff, unmoving bodies suggested they were still in shock. Dawn was next, the youngest female of the group was clearly troubled he looked at her but soon realised that he had no idea what went on in that little head of hers. By the time he eyed up the sofa Ash had just sat down to hold Misty's hand, _"maybe it's not just Drew..."_ Brock looked over to see Misty comfortably wedged between the two. All colour had been drained from her face, her and Gary seemed to be taking the news the worst. Ash seemed pretty upset but Brock knew him, he'd pull through for the better of the group! He was quite the hero like that_. "Damn that hero complex and how much trouble it's gotten us in!"_ Brock's smile crept into place causing him to shake his head. _"Tracey would not want this! Tracey would be the voice of reason, well that being after he made fun of Ash and Misty for the hand holding." _Chuckling to himself Brock added, _"anyway Tracey would be trying to encourage people to start thinking of a plan. We can't sit here and mope around, whoever these people are it's evident that they aren't messing around, and they were after them. A plan had to be made and soon before these people found out that nearly everyone on that list was together..."_

Getting to his feet he looked at his 'siblings'. "Come on up you get, we're going to go to our rooms where we can have a chat in private." Expectantly Brock left. After a quick exchange of glances everyone got their feet and shuffled to Brock and Ash's room.

Everyone returned to their silence- so unsuspecting. Brock slammed his fists onto the desk and turned to face everyone who now looked manically at the eldest. "We need a plan. They're coming for us! If we want to get out of this alive we need to think something up." To everyone's surprise Ash spoke next; "Brock's right we need a plan. Any ideas?" No one else spoke. "Hey Mist, didn't you say that Ritchie was coming over here?" All eyes travelled to the redhead, "yeah he wanted to start somewhere new." Ash nodded and added, "maybe we'll run into him and hopefully we can warn him. We need to learn more about whomever it is that's tracking us!" Again silence.

Pikachu's ears perked up detecting a familiar sound. He began to sniff the air. Nobody noticed at first, their attention too focused on Ash. "But how are we going to do that?" Ash began to pace back and forth the length of the room. The rest of the group stayed still watching him retrace his steps over and over and over...

"Ash will you stop that, you're making me dizzy!" May clung to her stomach and leaned onto the person next to her who just happened to be Drew. Supportively he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and rubbed her forearm subtly. May glanced at the boy and smiled, blushing profusely. Brock's smile returned just by observing the two- glad that they were able to bring some sort of comfort to each other.

Ash jumped onto his bed and stared to the ceiling. Pikachu jumped onto the bed, trampled onto his best friend and looked out the window. Still everyone ignored the young fur ball too absorbed in thinking to possibly spare a few moments to find out what he was doing.

The next thing anyone knew was Pikachu catapulting himself from one bed to the other and then onto the door handle causing it to turn and the door to open. The yellow Pokémon followed its sensors and speedily ran to find what he was desperately in search for. This time everyone noticed Pikachu's antic, they all looked towards Ash who took a second to process what was happening. Ash pushed himself off the bed and sprinted for the door chasing his beloved Pikachu all the while shouting, "Pikachu! Pikachu, where are you going? What have I told you about running off like that?"

Ash had no idea what his best friend was playing at but he intended to find out. Pikachu never just runs off like this. _"Something must be up."_ Ash ran and pushed his legs to keep running. He was briefly aware his friends where following him but kept his train of thought focused on his pal currently rushing down the multiple stairs. "Pikachu!" Ash had to stop to catch his breath but the minute he did so he set off again. Shouting could be heard in the distance and when he stepped foot in the lobby he could see why.

Two minutes later everyone else arrived, all out of breath and red faced. Two of the faces flashed with recognition.

**[A/N:**

**May: Wow Drew you have great muscles!**

**Drew: *Flips hair* Well what can I say?**

**Brock: *Going green* I might just throw up...**

**Misty: Just 'cause you could never pull a girl!**

**Brock: LOW BLOW MISTY!**

**Ash: It's kinda true...**

**Max: It is true!**

**Pikachu: Pika!**

**Brock: That's it no food for any of you!**

**Ash: *In a squeaky high pitched voice* What? No! Brock? Brock, you can't do that! I need food, I'm a growing boy!**

**Brock: Should have thought about that before.**

**Ash: What I actually meant, Brock, was that you're a real womaniser, yeah that's it, ****_you_**** get ****_all_**** the women... I get food now, right?**

**Brock: *Pats Ash on the head* That you do Ash.**

**Ash: *Happy Dance* Yay!**

**Me: *Speechless for the first time ever***

**Misty: He's a worse dancer than you**

**Me: *Staring at Ash* Yeah I know... Hey! Wait a second!**

**Misty: The second worst dancer in the world doesn't own Pokémon much to her own disappointment.**

**Me: You're mean...**

**Misty: *Shrugs shoulders* Review?] **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**[A/N:**

**I need to warn you guys that in all honesty I have no plan for this story and I am just writing it as it comes to me, I've no idea if what'll happen or how long it'll be. Of course I have some brief ideas but I'm pretty much winging it and I know that's probably not what you want to hear but it's the truth... Just hope I don't end up disappointing!**

**Another fairly small chapter, sorry about that.**

**So hope you all liked the last chappy. Now are you ready to find out what's going on? If the answers no, then leave now! If the answers yes then why the hell are you still reading this? The story awaits...]**

Ritchie stood cradling his cherished Pikachu that lay lifeless in his hands. All the while he was shouting at someone to help him. "Nurse Joy? Nurse Joy, I need your help! Please! ..._Please_..." Ritchie was now begging, he was on his knees- trembling. Tears crammed themselves from his eyes all in competition with one another to free themselves.

The group just stood there, anguish overcoming the eight silhouettes. Misty was the first to move. She cautiously put one foot in front of another, stopping every few steps. Ash placed his hand on her shoulder to hold her back so that Ritchie could have some space. Misty easily shrugged off her best friend's gesture and continued forward towards the pained teenager. She kneeled before him and slipped her hands beneath the Pikachu's body. The boy made no movements. Slowly Sparky was lifted from his arms. Like he was a baby Misty peacefully swung him from one side to the next. She started to step back away from the older boy still kneeled before her. She turned and in a mad dash ran off inside the double doors, somewhere restricted to doctors, nurses, patients and Chanseys.

Nobody knew what it was that Misty was doing. Instead they stayed planted to their spots looking from the double doors to the troubled boy crying into his hands. Still no one approached him. An audience had now formed all wearing the same look of shock. _"What the hell happened to Sparky?"_ Ash questioned, he knew he'd be in the exact same position right now if that was Pikachu. He glanced to his shoulder where a very sad looking Pokémon sat. Ash stepped forward in the same way that Misty had. He put his hand on Ritchie's shoulder and kneeled down. Nobody spoke. Ritchie needed time to think not to listen to Ash rattle on about how careless he must have been or be interrogate him on what had exactly happened. So Ash just sat there, his hand still on Ritchie's shoulder giving him the chance to cool off knowing that he would be there when he was ready to talk.

An hour had passed, the crowds had dispersed and Ritchie had sat on the chairs at the far back of the Pokémon Centre lobby. So far he'd managed to say the word, "sorry" but it wasn't exactly directed at any of the people in the room. "Ritchie, do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head, _"at least he'd managed to calm his breathing,"_ thought Ash.

The double doors opened to a smiling Misty. Silence overcame the group. She grabbed both arms of the upset Pokémon trainer and guided him back through the doors. Everyone just stared at the doors waiting for one of them to return, hopefully with a fully energised Sparky.

In the hallways Ritchie remained silent as the redhead showed him to a white room. Situated in the bed was a ball of yellow fluff. "Sparky?" At the sound of his name two beady black eyes peered to the doorframe, "Pika!" Ritchie ran over to the Pokémon hooked up to the machines. Quietly the girl left the two to their privacy. She came back to the lobby and sat with her friends.

"So?" Asked Brock, clearly worried about his friend. "Everything; is going to be okay. Did you find out what happened?" Everyone shook their heads, "no do you think it's got something to do with the hit list since he was on there with us..."

After an hour or so of discussion Ritchie rejoined the group (visiting times were over), he visibly seemed more uplifted but not yet the Ritchie that some of the group members knew. "What happened, Rich?" Ritchie looked up to see Misty asking the questions and although he knew his trusty friend was going to be okay he only managed to blurt out two words, "Team Rocket."

Everyone gasped and the room gained a new found silence as they furrowed through the new information, _"I never knew team rocket were so vicious, then again they kidnapped and beat up Misty..." _Ash looked over to his best friend who sat there, eye brows knitted together in deep thought.

"Wait guys do you remember what Team Rocket said when they had Misty up in that hot air balloon?" The group shrugged their shoulders at Brock whilst Ritchie looked over to Misty with a puzzled look upon his face. "They said something like- 'Oh contraire you've all done something, but don't worry it's not our job to dispose of you'" Ash looked a Brock, a light bulb switching on in his mind. "Oh I remember now! They must have been on about the list..."

"So what do we do now?" Everyone looked towards May, she was seeking comfort in their words but found no solace in the silence that draped over the group once again.

Suddenly Max stood up no longer fearing the worst but tuning into his opportunistic side and replying, "we have to infiltrate Team Rocket headquarters!" A very puzzled asked, "in-full-trait?"

Brock patronisingly looked to his friend, "he means break in." The still dense boy then answered "oh... How're we going to do that?" Yet another silence engulfed the room. Drew looked around, "oh come on! Nobodies got a plan?" Drew's outburst came to a shock to everyone up till now he'd remained voiceless it seemed the pressure was really getting to Drew. May pulled him back down to sit next to her, cuddling his arm as she did so although he did not seem to pull away or even be negatively affected by the action; as a matter of fact it appeared quite the opposite. "I think I have a plan..." Max looked upon the group though he was the youngest by a couple of years he was an abnormally intelligent child. Already on the edge of their seats, everyone leaned in further to close the gap between one another as though that would stop other people from overhearing their conversation.

Once everything was settled the group decided to settle in for the night. "I don't feel comfortable with so many of us in separate room's maybe we should change?" Drew's suggestion was not a bad one and a agreement was made instantly they walked over to the desk.

Brock took leadership, "Nurse Joy I was just wondering what is the maximum capacity to a room?"

"Well the larger rooms have three beds in each, if you would like to exchange your rooms into one of them?"

"Some of us could sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags." Eyes glared at Ash from all directions, "or not..."

"What about if we sleep in the groups we came in so in one room me, Ash and Brock in another May, Max and Drew and in the third room Ritchie, Misty and Gary?" Dawn observed the rest of the group, ecstatic that if this worked she would get to spend the whole night with Ash alone... And Brock but that was a small price to pay in Dawn's mind.

"Sounds good to me." It was the first time that Gary had spoken since the whole Sparky incident.

_"Well that would sound good to you..."_ Ash had an unsettling feeling in his stomach, Misty and Gary in a room together without him? Obviously Ritchie would be there too but this small detail seemed irrelevant at that moment. _"I can't say anything they'll all start getting suspicious."_ Ash looked up to the temperamental teen stood with her back to him, _"Misty can take care of herself, right?"_

"This way is so much better too; this way there's two guys to protect a girl." Dawn squealed in that irritating way she did. This caused some strange glares from Misty and May at the girl currently smiling widely.

"I do not need protecting! If it's someone who needs protecting it's these bumbling idiots-"

At that point Ash intervened, "hey we are not-" Ash was then interrupted by Misty who gave him a quick slap to the back of the head, Dawn turned back to Misty horrified at what she'd just done.

"As I was saying if it's someone who needs protecting it's these bumbling idiots. Never. I mean never insinuate that I cannot protect myself understood?" Dawn stiffly nodded her head in fear of the intimidating girl. Ash's hand slowly started to rise as if he was in a classroom asking the teacher a question.

Without even looking over in Ash's direction Misty said, "it means imply Ash." Slowly Ash's hand returned to his side but not without sniggers from Gary and Ritchie. With that people left to their own rooms previously determined by their travelling groups- much to Ash's annoyance.

Expecting a peaceful night's sleep was too farfetched and the group were soon awoken by a loud explosion and seven Team Rocket Grunts charging into their rooms unexpectedly. They'd been found.

**[A/N:**

**Me: *Manically* I own NOTHING! *Laughs insanely***

**Max: You're stupid! You're implying that you don't own a thing... So what you're a homeless penniless person now? And you call yourself a writer!**

**Me: Do not correct me Maxamillion! *Zaps Max with a magical pen and he disappears* MUWHAHAHAHA! **

**Ritchie: She's weird... so review and maybe she'll keep some sanity? Who knows... *Steps away cautiously*]**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**[A/N:**

**Crappy chappy! I don't know... It contains a hormonal Ash, a pathetic Dawn and a couple of stupid rocket, but, I just don't know... It's just crappy. There may be a lot of mistakes too... So I do apologise in advance, I only started writing today and usually I spread it out during the week but who knew college was so hard?! AND WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME? :/**

**I just want to say that I don't think I give you guys enough credit! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMMENTING! You're all awesome and you seriously don't know how much it brightens my day when you comment, well maybe you do but that is far from the point! I'm really grateful and I have no other idea how to show that so;**

**Amber0522, ultranx, SmilingHidesMyTears, thedarkpokemaster, laurenkams, AAML-TAML, SlipknotGhidorah, pikaluver1229, Canon's Son, Lil Green Devil and Poppy is Pretty **

**THANK YOU SO, SO, SO, SO very much just for reviewing! You're amazing also thanks to anyone else who has been reading or is following or has favourited this story! Okay so my speech is over... Oh by the way: **

**Ritchie: 17**

**Thank you, you may continue... *Bows and exits stage*]**

All settled in their rooms, everyone was ready to turn in for the night so that they were ready for the early start they had in the morning. Well that was until they heard the shrill, high-pitched scream coming from the room shared by Brock, Ash and Dawn. Everyone else rushed from their beds and headed to the door...

"Dawn?" Drew approached the door as the screeching continued; slowly he turned the door handle whilst the rest of the group peered over the young man's shoulder. "Dawn?"

Inside the room was dark, the lights were off, and the only source of light the moonlight meagrely sprouting through the crack in the curtains. An eerie silence had long overpowered Dawn's desperate screaming. The formerly basic Pokémon Centre room appeared to shrink in size and the group stalked inwards hoping to find Dawn screaming over something as trivial as a broken nail. Dawn's screams filled the empty room once again. Fumbling for the light switch Drew felt his hand cover in a peculiar fluid. Eventually the light turned on a Drew saw the thick red marks on his hands. Blood. The green haired boy scraped his hands on his green pyjama pants in a vain effort to clean himself. May nudged him but when he looked up he beheld the scene before him.

Stood there menacingly where seven men, dressed in black with their faces and identities covered by masks, their fingerprints covered by gloves the silhouettes moved sharply and Drew felt May cower behind him. All seven turned their heads in the direction of the intruders. Ash and Brock were tied up and laid on the floor while Dawn was being manhandled rashly by one of the men. "You've just made this a hell of a lot easier!" One of the rockets sniggered staring pointedly in the direction of the trespassers. Misty looked around the room in hope of finding something that could help them. Her eyes fell on Ash, a trickle of blood running from his forehead, his eyes pleading with her to run. Automatically Misty's hand curled in on itself, drawing blood.

"You let them go!"

"My, my, isn't she a feisty one?" Misty's breathing was hard and Ritchie was holding her back. Ash continued to beg them to get out, he knew it was a futile attempt but it was the only thing he could do. _"I swear if they lay a finger on her!"_ Ash grappled in the rope like a fish out of water while he watched the dark haired rocket edge closer to his best friend. Meanwhile, Brock was finally coming to after being brutally battled to the floor. He scoped the room and saw Dawn, in tears, being held by one of the men that had tackled him. The eldest of the friends attempted to talk but found himself unable to do so as his throat was dry, the gun being pointed in his face didn't help matters. "Now you might as well just give up now. You're all going to die anyway." The man's voice was rough and cut through the air barbarically.

"Why do you want to kill us?" Young Max's loud outburst surprised the rockets but the minute they got over it they began to cackle at the ten year old.

"Well, little boy. If you must know, you-" the man gestured around the room at all of the members of the group, "have being ruining Team Rocket's plans for far too long. It's about time the boss agreed to dispose of you. So here we are. Shame, some of you ladies could have some real potential." As the man lazily drawled out the last sentence he looked each of the females up and down carelessly. Ash sneered. He looked to his over to the side of the bed where there laid a still knocked out Pikachu. The yellow ball of fluff inflated and deflated slightly. Ash let out a breath he didn't realise that he's been holding. At least Pikachu was alive!

The rocket that had been doing all of the talking so far pulled out his gun and pointed at the cluster of teenagers, "sit." Hesitantly the group sat at the back of the room close to Ash and Brock who were still tied up. "Now, I have strict instructions. But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with this does it?" An evil grin flashed on the man's face. His eyes spied over the defenceless group sat on floor. "Ah Gary Oak, grandson of Professor Oak. You could be worth a lot of money!" The rocket sneered and used his gun to indicate that he wanted the brunette to get to his feet. Gary refused he remained sat and stared heavily at the man. "Wanna play, lad?" Without looking the man aimed his gun at the person next to Gary who coincidentally was Misty. "Still wanna play?" Before he was given the chance to do some real damage Gary got to his feet, hatred filling every ounce of him. "Good boy. Hal, you take him to the next room, you know what to do right?" Concerned looks flagged the seated teens as they stared up at Gary being towed away by a tall muscular man. "Who's next?" Again his eyes looked over the face of each victim, the gun falling to Dawn. "Nope I don't think we know anymore... So let's pick someone random-" with his gun still aimed at Dawn, "up."

On the spot Dawn burst into tears- again. "Please I haven't done anything." The man's gaze was unmoving.

"Don't worry sweetheart, you're not of any importance. It'll be over before you know it. Then we'll move onto the next person." Vigorously Dawn shook her head and pointed to Misty. The man's gaze swooped over to the redhead. "I think we'll save her for last. You know what they say. Save the best till last."

Ash was getting angrier and angrier by the second. All he wanted to do was beat this guy into a pulp. How could he objectify his friends like that? How could he objectify Misty like that? _"Misty is so much more than a pretty face! Sure she had a beautiful face and a stunning body and God her gorgeous long legs..." _Ash forcibly snapped himself from his fantasies. Next he took a moment to look over to the attractive girl sat on his right. Misty's face was pale; she looked seriously ill as she concentrated on the floor. _"Don't worry Mist, nothing's going to happen to you."_ The man began to speak again, his voice grinding like sandpaper.

"Now, I've told you once. Get. Up." Dawn shook her head and pointed at Misty again.

"Her, take her. She's the Cerulean Gym leader! She's a Sensational Sister! You could get a lot of money from her too!" In response the man smirked.

"Cerulean Gym leader?" He weighed the words in his mind, cocking the gun in Misty's direction. "Up."

Dawn felt a wave of relief. _"Thank God Ash has talked so much about Misty!" _She looked at Misty now being jerked to her feet. She felt no remorse. However Dawn did feel the glares burning into her skin. Upon turning her head she was met with several stares from people she could not care less about.

"Wait!" Everyone looked at Ash with a troubled look on their face. Brock looked away, his two best friends. He didn't want either of them to be taken away for God knows what. He sat patiently waiting to see if the men would consider the swap Ash was about to propose. Normally Brock would be opposed to it, but he knew how stubborn Ash could be- especially if it meant a choice between saving himself or saving Misty. "Please. Take me."

The man genuinely seemed to be considering it. "Who are you?"

"Ash Ketchum. Indigo conference top sixteen, Silver conference and Ever Grande Conference top eight, Lily of the Valley conference top four, Orange League and Kanto battle Frontier champions. Please, please let me go instead." The redhead looked form the face of the two boys hoping to the heavens that this man would take her instead.

"Ash Stop! I'll be fine. Please don't do this. Not for me..." Ash was purposely avoiding Misty's eyes, he could not bear to see her beg him. Not like this at least. Anxiously Ash aimed his attention to the dark haired man. This was the first chance he'd had to get a look at the man. Ash couldn't see the man's eyes but could guess that he was approximately in his late thirties, early forties. The man's years showed in the creases of his pale skin. Several scars swiped over his neck jaggedly, adding to the dangerous aura the man already established.

After hearing Ash's response the man's grin widened. "Perfect. Louie you take this one." Ash was grabbed by one of the rockets, allegedly named Louie.

"No. Leave him alone! You bring him back here now! Like, right this instance!" The girls fear was beginning to show, her usually demanding tone cracked as she helplessly watched her best friend be hauled away by an abnormally tall and wide bald man.

"Don't worry, you're next." The main rocket that the group were guessing was the leader cupped Misty's chin and shoved her back down to the floor.

"Wait, you said we could swap!"

"I said you can swap, that doesn't mean I was going to spare her!" Ash looked horrified as he was forcefully carried away by Louie over his shoulder. "Your boyfriend's way too naive." The man laughed to himself. Unlike she would normally Misty did not argue that there was no possible way she and Ash would ever date she just sat there focusing on the door her two best friends had been taken to. An unsettling feeling grew in her stomach. Both had been taken because of her.

_"It;s all my fault..."_

Misty felt the tears tear down her flushed cheeks. The older man currently towering over the group satisfyingly tittering at the crying redhead notably glancing between her and the door she was burning holes in with her eyes.

"Gary, Ash, I'm sorry!"

The tears were harder to control and fell more aggressively when she spotted the two spare spaces where the brunette and Pikachu loving boy once sat. May scuffled over to her side therefore dragging the man's attention to her. He pointed the gun at her and signalled her to return where she was sat with Drew. Jaw tightened May did as insinuated by her elder and cuddled into Drew's chest to divert her attention from her crying friend. Drew held on to the brunette and looked up to the man. He'd sat down on one of the beds. Not distracting his watch from the crying teenager. He looked over to Ritchie who displayed a look of hatred.

The man took in every second of the scene enjoying the control and power felt. _"Oh this isn't over yet."_

**[A/N:**

**Me: Tessa killed me... BUT I used the resurrection stone so guess what? I'm back!**

**May: I think she found some sanity too, so...**

**Drew: Thanks for the reviews**

**Brock: *Sweatdrops* Didn't she already say all this already?**

**Max: I do believe she did Brock**

**Ash: Where'd you get the resurrection stone?**

**Me: I have my connections.**

**Misty: What the hell does that mean?**

**Me: Oh, nothing *Smiles slyly***

**Dawn: Isn't that from that crappy movie?**

**Everyone Else: WHAT?!**

**Dawn: Hum... Harry Potter that's the one!**

**Me: So, real quick, I don't own Pokémon but I betcha already knew that right? Please continue reviewing! So... I have to go kill Dawn now, bye! GET HERE NOW DAWN! *Chases Dawn with a Mallet while a riot of people follow, weapons in hand***

**Dawn: Help... Me...]**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**[A/N: **

**So in one of the reviews I got asked where Jessie, James and Meowth are. So if you want me to include them could you please say so in your review? I'll happily include the trio of misfits if a couple of people ask for it, thanks to PokefanLA for mentioning it ^_^]**

It had been just over an hour before anything else happened. The leader of the rockets sat observing the group with prying eyes, scheming the best ways to kill each one painfully. Brock had noticed the way the man looked at the girls and clutched his stomach as the bile rose to his throat. Max and Brock sat passing looks at one another, talking with their mind and so far the Rockets hadn't noticed. Since being ordered to return to her original spot May hadn't moved from Drew's arms, around about half an hour ago she dozed asleep although no one was too sure how. Drew had refused to let go of the brunette, feeling much more secure knowing that she was safe in his arms. So far neither Gary nor Ash had returned and their friends were beginning to worry immensely over the well being of the two.

"Right, it's getting a bit late and I'd like to get home some time tonight!" Without offering a further explanation the man forced Misty up by her hair. Before being dragged out of the room Misty let out a little yelp that caused May to bolt upright and stare distressfully at the scene. Looks were exchanged amongst the remaining friends.

Out of the corner of his eye Max spotted a moving yellow spot. _"Pikachu..." _He stood on his tiny wavering legs and after steadying himself he looked over the room, noticing the men with guns instantly. Sparks jumped out of his cheeks but not before noticing Max's glare. Max put his finger to his lip and stared pointedly at the Pokémon. Straight away Pikachu noticed the gesture and walked carefully under the bed, away from sight. However that didn't stop Pikachu from scoping out the room slowly coming to a worrying conclusion. _"Pikapi? Pikachupi?" _

Crack.

The piercing gunshot rattled the entire room, leaving the gang to shriek out in terror all worried about who it could be that had been hurt, or worse, murdered. After that a silence dawned over the room. The only sound was the echoing of May's tears.

Suddenly a raven haired boy rushed through the room, his cheeks red and his breath laboured. "Ash!"

"Pikapi!" Instantaneously Pikachu jumped from his hiding place and tackled his trainer.

Too late to react the four rockets were quickly taken down by one of Pikachu's mighty thunderbolts. Hugging his best friend Ash felt a tug of relief as the warm ball of fur brought comfort to the tall teen's arms. A genuine smile tugged at his lips but the minute he looked around the room his smile failed.

Brock looked at Ash in concern. His eye was black and his bottom lip swollen from what looked like a brilliantly brutal beating. Around his chiselled jaw line were small brown bruises patterning the whole of the left side of his face. The trickle of blood that was there, from the first time they were attacked from the Rockets, had now dried up and left a crimson line on the right side of his forehead. Ash's previously white beater adorned a red stain around the rib area and his red hoodie (that he usually slept in) now only had one sleeve. Brock worried about the boy but even more so when he saw the distraught look in his eyes.

"Where's Misty?" Again Brock swallowed the bile that was clogging up his throat and looked directly at his best friend. Just as fast as he'd entered he'd left, hurrying out of the room faster than a Deoxys. The rest of the group followed the boy now screaming out the name of his best friend. Ash decided to look next door, the room that had previously been May, Max and Drew's.

The room was dark but the clear outline of the tall muscular man bending over the shivering teen being held to the floor by his throat was clearly visible. "Gary?"

Taken by surprise Gary managed to throw a good punch, soon Brock and Ritchie where restraining the man while Drew was using the Rocket's spare piece of rope to tie him up securely. Gary looked just as bad as Ash did if not worse, blood spatter covered half of his shirt and his spiky hair now lay flat around his face. It was obvious that he had a broken nose and the dried blood under it insinuated that it was a painful act. Just like the raven haired boy Gary had a black eye and also scratches down his right cheek.

"Where's Misty?" All of a sudden Ash was back out of the room and scouring the corridors for some sign of the redhead. Gary, Brock and Ritchie were straight after them followed by May, Max, Drew and lastly Dawn. A piercing feminine scream caught the eight's attention and they headed over to a room at the end of the corridor.

Rashly the crowd of teenagers barged through the door. Misty was pinned to the wall by the leader of the Rocket's- a dangerous look possessed his eyes and smile. Ash did not like the pose that the man stood in, his arm drawn back, flexing his muscles, just about to throw his fist into Misty.

"You let her go!" Already the boy was angered by the day's wearing events and now he was just about ready to punch the guy in the face, a notion not usually thought by the usually understanding teen.

The man smirked lazily dropping his arm but not letting up on the redhead squeezed between himself and the wall.

"What you going to do about it son?" Gary stepped forward and aimed his finger at the oldest man in the room.

"I swear-" the man interrupted only to repeat himself.

"What you going to do about it son?" While distracted Misty kicked the man a place a man should never be kicked. She watched him slowly shrink to the floor, withering in pain. "You bitch!"

One of the boys lurched in his direction and pushed him to the floor hitting him forcefully. Ritchie and Brock intruded by yanking the boy away and out of the room. By that point the rocket was unconscious but that didn't stop Ash screaming at him while being tugged away:

"How dare you! She is not a bitch! She is so far from it, I swear if I ever see you around here again! Just you wait!"

A couple of minutes passed so that Misty could calm the pacing boy.

"Ash?" At first he completely ignored her too caught up in his angry mumbling to suspect anyone calling his name. Misty grabbed the boy forcing him to face her directly. Quickly he returned to reality and looked to the bruised face of his best friend, tears welling up at the sight knowing that he couldn't protect her. In the moment Misty lunged forward and squeezed the boy into a tight hug without any refusal from the boy now clutching her back. His face dug into her hair so that he could muffle his cries. Soothingly the girl rubbed his back and gently twirling some of the hairs at the bottom of his neck. As though nothing had even happened the two retracted, Ash quickly wiping away the last of his tears. There was no time like the present and this was one thing Brock realised, he looked over his friends, some covered in blood and beaten up, most terrified and thinking irrationally but all of them stood in the corridor paranoid and wearing nothing but some pyjamas. Or in Gary's case just some jogging bottoms.

Fast thinking as always Brock mentally made a checklist and clued his friends on the course of action for the morning. There was no way that they'd be able to retrieve their bags and clothes so he planned to firstly nip to the bank then head over to the all night supermarket where they could quickly buy the necessities. Everyone agreed and they quickly walked to their planned destination in what they were already wearing. Throughout the whole trip no one spoke. In all honestly nobody really knew what there was to say. Once everyone had drawn out all of their funds they headed over to the supermarket quickly buying everything they need and nothing more.

The end part of Brock's plan was to hike into a deep part of the forest and set up camp with their newly bought equipment. When there they could eat and get a little bit of sleep before having to set off afresh. Once again no body argued and their walk into the forest was weary and they kept their eyes out for any sight of danger.

It took around an hour and a half for the group to set up camp, find firewood and for Brock to begin the cooking for everyone.

"Here." Ash looked at Misty as she placed the cream on his lower lip and his forehead. It stung but Ash didn't want to show anymore weakness towards the redhead.

"Thanks," he softly said. She smiled and finished up but not before pulling up Ash's t-shirt startling the teenage boy. "Woah... Mist?" In his frantic panic the boy had fallen off the log he was resided over causing a hysterical laughter to behold the group. His flustered face brightened as he retreated back onto the log making sure to not make eye contact with any of the members of the group. Next to him Pikachu dramatically re-enacted his trainer's misfortune only increasing the sound of the group's laughter. Even Dawn was laughing but that didn't mean that she wasn't angry at the redhead who had just put her hands over her crush's t-shirt.

"Don't worry it's not like I was trying to feel you up I just wanted to put some of this cream on those bruises and cuts on your ribs." Misty winked and lifted up the boy's shirt once again, giving everyone a nice view of the boys toned body. Somehow he managed to look up to the sky and distract himself from thinking about the redhead's delicate fingers dancing up his sides as they applied the cream.

Slowly Misty put down the boy's shirt but not before catching one last glance at the boy's body thankfully for her Ash was too busy staring at the clouds gliding across the skies. "There now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

So badly Ash wanted to tell her how he felt, a sudden urge to spill out his confession but instead opted to mutter something incomprehensible. Misty's only response was to roll her eyes at her best friend as she stood up and wandered over to Gary. Ash frowned at the two as he carefully watched Misty apply the cream to Gary's face just as she had done to Ash. For the second time that day Ash wanted to punch someone's face in...

Her gentle fingers grazed over Gary's also toned body as she applied the cream to his shoulder and the bottom of his back where he had suffered the most bruising. Tentatively she applied some more cream to the Oak's neck where she had a sufficient amount of bruising and scratching from when the Rocket had attempted to strangle the teenager.

Ash was seething, and Brock could sense it.

"So how did those guys try and get money out of the three of you?" A look was shared between the trio but did not escape the attention of the rest of the group who all moved forward towards the group ready to hear the story.

"They were going to beat us up-"

"Which they did..." When he realised his mistake Drew subsided and moved closer to May in an attempt to avoid the glares of the rest of the group.

"As I was saying," Ash continued, "they were going to beat us up and then take pictures. They planned on sending the pictures to our families to try and encourage them to send a ransom for us but of course by then we'd be dead and they'd have all the money."

"Since when have Team Rocket been so aggressive?" Brock's surge of anger didn't surprise anyone after all it was what they were all thinking. Unfortunately no one could answer and the silence overwhelmed the group again.

"Pikachu!" Everyone stared at the yellow rodent who began pulling several funny faces to fill the awkward emptiness. Everyone giggled, chuckled and laughed at the adorableness of the small Pokémon.

"I really do love you Pikachu!" Pikachu pursued the redhead and bundled into her arms. Ritchie glanced over and held a small smile. The brunette headed over to his tent where there laid down a very worn out ball of fur. Ritchie smiled knowing that Sparky would be safe- with him.

The rest of the night was slept away, everyone hoping that things could only get better.

**[A/N: **

**ME: I KNOW! I KNOW! CRAPPY ENDING -.-'**

**Max: Wow, worst ending ever...**

**May: What the hell happened there?**

**Drew: 'The rest of the night was slept away, everyone hoping that things could only get better.' I could do better in my sleep!**

**Me: I GET IT ALREADY!**

**Gary: Wooooooooow... There are just no words!**

**Brock: *Sweatdrops* It was... Yeah, it was.**

**Ash: I, er, I liked it... *Rubs back of his neck nervously***

**Me: *Hopeful* Really?**

**Ash: Er, no... Sorry...**

**Misty: Not your best so far!**

**Me: I KNOW!**

**Misty: Sheesh, I was just saying!**

**Ritchie: ... Yeah... *Looks away***

**Dawn: Awful! **

**Me: *Seething* SHUT THE HELL UP DAWN! **

**Dawn: Well it's true!**

**Me: I know... *Cries anime style***

**Gary: Is she going to be okay? *Looks worriedly over at his friends***

**Dawn: *Shrugs* Who cares?**

**Max: She *Points at me rocking back and forth crying* Owns nothing... *Stares at the girl and shakes his head mumbles under his breath* Pathetic!**

**Ritchie: Review?**

**May: And if you want Jessie,**

**Drew: James,**

**Ash: Or Meowth,**

**Misty: To make an appearance,**

**Brock: Then don't forget to write it in you review!**

**Gary: Thanks?]**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**[A/N:**

**I know I'm a day late, sorry... I went to a concert yesterday and only got home at twenty to one and by then I was passing out in bed... SORRY! A bit of shameless advertising lol, so pokeshippers which I presume nearly everyone reading this fic is, why not try out my Pokémon Pokeshipping Songfics? There's only 2 up there so far but I do plan on doing more. Feel no obligation to do so, I was just, you know, saying... So, yeah, check it out? Or not... Whichever. Oh and Jessie, James and Meowth will be making an appearance in one of the upcoming chapters. On with the story?]**

Light shone in the sky, indicating that it was now officially time to wake up. As usual Brock and Max were the first up. The raw smell of Brock's cooking instantly awoke the aspiring Pokémon Master.

"Food!" Clad in his pyjamas the boy ran over to log seats around the campfire, his tongue practically wagging out of his mouth as he stared down the pan in Brock's hand. It was nearly impossible for anyone to sleep through Ash's outburst so they all got up; disgruntled and unsociable. Well everyone except for Dawn that is who was invaded Ash's personal space but then again he hadn't even noticed the concept of food had completely drained the boy of any awareness of his surroundings. It didn't take too long for the food to be handed out to everyone in turn, as usual all leftovers going over to the human dustbin.

"So Ash, what are we doing today?" The girl cupped her chin with her hands and leaned over so that the young boy was completely devoid of personal space.

"Huh? Erm I was thinking we should start heading over to the Team Rocket Headquaters? You know, carry on with the original plan. It's not like they know that we're here so it'll still be a surprise." After he'd finished he scooted over to the other side of the log to gain some space back.

"Ash is right!" Brock stood, his finger pointing to the sky, "we should pack up and get moving, we can could get a real distance if we start early." Max nodded his head in agreeance. "So it's settled. Pack up!" Everyone did as told making slight conversation as they did so. And then the nine heroes were on their way.

"How's Sparky doing?"

"Pika?" Pikachu jumped from his partners shoulder onto Ritchie's who's arms were positioned cradling the healing Pikachu.

"Great! Thanks to Brock, that guys a real miracle worker."

"Good ol' Brocko." Ash smiled and looked over to the eldest all of them. "He's a great guy. And I'm really glad Sparky's going to be okay, were going to need everyone fit and healthy if we're going to take Team Rocket down for good!"

"You betcha, give him another day and he'll be ready to show them Rockets who's boss!" Ash smiled at his friend's enthusiasm. There was no doubt in the similarities in the two. Pikachu pounced from Ritchie's shoulder back onto Ash's just as Misty and Gary joined the group.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" The grin on Ash's face grew as he looked over to the redhead trailing beside him, Pikachu jumping into her empty arms.

"Nothing. Where's Marill?" Pikachu lapped up the attention for the redhead, letting out a "Pika" of affection every so often.

"I left her in her Pokéball; she's really emotional right now so I figured she'd be better off having some time alone."

"I'm not surprised the news of Tracey hit us all hard..."

"Yeah..."

"Come on you two. We need to do this for Tracey! I don't think he'd be too impressed if we stand moping around." Gary's mini speech made the redhead smile in his direction only infuriating the already sensitive Ash.

"What would you know Gary? Why don't you just stop acting like you care." The minute the words tumbled from his mouth he wished he could stuff them all back in. At Ash's outburst the whole group had stopped. Everyone stared from one teen to the next, awaiting Gary's retaliation. But none came. Instead, with hands buried in his pockets, the spiky haired male sulked away, followed by an exceedingly angered shadow Pokémon. Brock stood there with mouth agape as he watched the boy carry on in front of the group not stopping to make sure they were following. Ash's eyes skimmed the scene collecting collateral damage but what he saw broke his heart. Misty. Wearing a pained expression as she stared at Ash examining every inch of him and he knew exactly what she was saying:

_"Who are you anymore Ash?"_

He was beginning to ask himself the same question. He stared down at his feet yet he could feel her presence dawn away from him in the direction that Gary had wandered. A low sigh caught his attention as he looked up at the tall man in front of him, hands on his shoulders.

"You okay?" Stupidly Ash smiled but couldn't keep the facade up- not even for a second. No, he was not okay. He was scared that he was going to lose one or all of his best friends. He was still grieving over the loss of one of his companions and close friend. He was upset that his best friend had found a comrade in his biggest rival. He was mad that so far Team Rocket had been one step ahead of them. He was sore from all the bruising, all the cuts and all the heartache. But most of all he was tired. Tired of running, tired of pretending that he was okay and tired of trying to cover up his silly little childhood crush. _"No, that's not it. It's silly. It's not little. And definitely isn't a childhood crush... It's so much more than that!" _Ash let out his own sigh as he walked along prepared to apologise to his rival.

Misty easily spotted the silhouette of the brunette slouching against the large boulder, one of his legs drawn to his chest while he dazed off into the distance. Calmly Misty slid down the side of the boulder and plopped down next to the unmoving figure. In one smooth, fluid movement she planted her cheek on the comfy pillow of Gary's shoulder. He craned his neck at the redhead and smiled before diverting his attention back to the night sky.

They stayed that way until they heard the patter of soft footsteps cautiously making their way over to the scene. Still motionless the boy sat staring up at the stars while the girl turned and smiled at the awkward statue stood looking over the scene. Stiffly he walked to toward them and croaked,

"Can I have a word with Gary- in private, please Misty?" The girl nodded and was pulled up by the standing teen; hastily hugging the teen then she began to walk back to the campsite. Or so Ash thought. Ash slumped next to the cold teen and turned to him.

"I'm sorry..." Gary let out a deep breath and looked at the person sat next to him.

"I know... It just hurts, you know? I can't believe he's gone!"

"You two were close then?" A small yet authentic smile honoured Gary's face as he recalled past memories with the Pokémon Watcher.

"Yeah, he was always pestering me to let him draw Umbreon," Gary looked at the Pokémon sleeping comfortably with her head leaning on his folded leg. "You should have seen his face when I finally agreed," a smug expression appeared on the Pokémon researchers face, "he was _so_ happy!" Ash, too, smiled knowing exactly how passionate Tracey was when it came to drawing. He could just imagine the hair band wearing boy's face light up as he was given the opportunity to draw the shadow Pokémon. He stifled a laugh at the image. The two sat there for a while thinking of some sentimental memories that they did not need to share.

Behind the boulder Misty smirked silently laughing at how well the boys got on. A curious Ritchie came over to see what was taking the three so long, and to tell everyone that Brock had prepared some food. When he saw Misty hunched over smiling at the ground he wordlessly sat next to her giving her a questioning look. Then he heard it the laughing of the two boys. Ritchie smirked at the knowledge of the two 'rivals' getting along so well.

"C'mon we should be getting back; Mist will think we've been trying to kill each other!"

"You're right. Best not worry her. " Shrugging off the dirt on his clothing he boys started to walk away, only to be jumped by Misty and Ritchie. The two savoured the scared expressions of their victims as they laughed.

All of a sudden the ground beneath them began to break away and the four found themselves falling, and falling, and falling.

**[A/N:**

**Me: I know it's short... Sorry, again...**

**Ash: So where were you yesterday?**

**Me: Er... At a concert...**

**Ritchie: Who's concert?**

**Me: The Midnight Beast?**

**May: Those guys are awesome!**

**Drew: ...**

**Misty: You mean to say you ditched us for three guys?**

**Me: Er... Yeah?**

**Max: Wow... I didn't even think you had a life...*Sweatdrops***

**Brock: Me either...**

**Me: Excuse me?**

**Ritchie: Well...**

**Me: I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! *Goes sulks in a corner***

**Gary: Greeeeeat now look what you guys did**

**Drew: *Turns to May* So you like these guys?**

**May: Who, The Midnight Beast?**

**Drew: *Agitated* Yes...**

**May: Hell yeah!**

**Drew: ...**

**Ash: Me wants pizza!**

**Brock: *Rolls eyes* You always want pizza**

**Drew: What's so special about these guys?**

**May: Well, *starts talking about all the good qualities of The Midnight Beast***

**Drew: ...**

**Max: MasteringAMuggleLife doesn't own Pokémon**

**Brock: Please take a second to review even if it's a rant about how bad her writing is, at least then she'll know that people are still reading her stories!**

**Drew: THAT'S IT! I'm going to kill those Beastie boys!**

**May: ... It's The Midnight Beast...]**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**[A/N:**

**Sorry this is so late but I have two reasons: I've been ill all week so I haven't been to college so I actually thought yesterday was Tuesday until my Mum told me it was Thursday and I realised I'd missed my deadline. I would've done it last night but I was up till 1 finishing off writing a story for English Lit -.-' Sorry... It will not happen again! *Salutes* If it's really bad I blame my illness -.-' and if it is bad, what do you think I should change for the next chapter? Any ideas? I'm always open to hear them ^_^]**

The ground beneath Ritchie was hard as he got to his feet. The cave was darker than above the surface but the moonlight seeping in through the cracks in the ceiling. A grumpy moan sounded in the back of his throat as he grabbed his hat and placed it back on his head. Looking around he could not see anyone.

"Guys? Hello? Everyone okay?" Ritchie's voice creaked in the emptiness of the air; he looked around and saw the two boys lied down breathing heavily, both blinking at the ceiling in shock. The standing brunette placed pressure on his left leg to alleviate the pain soaring through his right, a pant of pain accidentally escaping his throat.

In the background a faint voice could be heard but the two boys were too busy lying on the floor devoured in self pity. Ash's brown eyes looked over to Gary who let out an aggravated cry, finally deciding it was time to move. Ash followed Gary's movements and got to his feet, scouring his surroundings whilst grabbing his own trusty hat to place it back where it belonged. Ritchie limped over to the other boys, a damaged ankle stopping him from being able to fully walk.

"What happened?" Ash rubbed at his forehead and felt the thick fluid on his hand once again, the same cut he had attained from earlier now reopened. He huffed annoyance and looked to the boy that commonly had he answers to everything, or at least seemed to.

"I guess the floor just collapsed..." The usual matter of fact demeanour of Gary Oak diminished as he cradled one arm in the other, most likely broken. A grunt from the back of the cave caught the three boy's attention, the minute they looked to the far corner of the cave they could see the body of their female companion sprawled across the floor- barely moving. Each one of the trio ran to her side, Ash beginning to uncontrollably shake the girl.

"Misty? Misty? You need to wake up! Come on Misty, you've been through so much more than this!" The soothing yet panicked tone of the boy consoled the girl back to reality.

"Ash?" The sweet melody of her voice brought a smile to Ash's lips as he laid her head delicately in his lap, avoiding scraping his fingers over the large scuff mark down the left side of her face from where she'd fallen. Her wondrous cerulean eyes opened to the sight of the smiling teen. She too began to smile and her eyes shut again.

"Ash?" The boy answered to his rival as he looked in his direction to see a worried expression. He watched Gary's eyes carry him to the large pool of blood seeping through the girl's new shorts. Mouth agape he looked back at the researcher questioning him what to do. The boy stood up and paced, rubbing his chin in thought. Helplessly Ash kneeled stroking the redhead's long hair.

"You guys down there?" The once annoying voice of Dawn aired from above the four. All eyes darted upwards to see the bluenette, hand positioned over her eyes in a searching action.

"Dawn! Dawn I need you to get me my bag and throw it down! Hurry." Without question the girl nodded and hurried off back to the campsite. She did not speak a word when she got there instead she grabbed Gary's bag and ran back to where her friends were trapped. On her way she tripped in all her hurry and fell down the hole, joining her friends. Luckily she only severely hurt her elbow and bottom from her fairly smooth entrance. Ritchie helped to her feet by placing his arm around her waist and hauling her to her feet. The girl gave herself a minute to steady her vision before handing the bag she'd been clutching on her way down over to Gary.

"You okay Dawn?" Dawn's eyes lit with a flame and smiled at the kneeling boy that had just questioned her._ "He does care!"_ She inwardly smiled and placed her hand on the rough surface of the wall to keep herself from falling from the dream turned reality. And then she saw the redhead lied in his lap and her new found reality collapsed although she couldn't help but smile at the girl's state. A pang of guilt struck her at the sickening smile on her face but she subtly brushed it off and watched as Gary got to work.

Gary unpacked bandages and other supplies that Ash was acquainted with. Then he reached to the button of Misty's shorts but Ash slapped his hand away.

"Ash, I need to actually see the wound!" Although unsure Ash allowed Gary to slip off the girls shorts, blushing madly and looking in any other direction that he could. Blood poured from the cut gash on the girl's leg; he found the pressure point and tied a rag around the leg, pressing down on the pressure point, to stop the bleeding. Next he bandaged up the cut but not before cleaning it up and then after that he slipped her shorts back on and packed away. Ash eyes the boy suspiciously before going back to stroking the girl's cherry hair.

An awkward silence descended upon the group until Dawn decided to pipe up.

"So we just wait?" Ritchie, the only one listening, nodded his head. "The rest of the gang went to sleep, so we're going to be stuck out here all night!" The girl began to sulk and Ritchie rolled his eyes and let out a deep breath of irritation causing Gary to laugh.

The spiky haired male rooted through his bag and pulled out a few of the spare things that he'd brought; two jumpers, a hoodie and a jacket. He handed the clothing out equally and gave Misty his sleeping bag. One by one the five teens slipped into unconsciousness, leaving only Gary and Ash awake.

"Do you like Misty?" Ash's question shocked Gary, he had never expected such a direct question from about such a topic, especially when it came from the usually naive boy.

"Of course I do, she's my friend!" Ash stared the boy down before asking his next question.

"I mean do you love her?" Gary fully understood the extent of Ash's question and answered in all honesty.

"Yeah-" Ash visibly deflated at the answer- "like a sister." The boy's hung head shot up as he looked in the eyes of his ex-rival to detect any traces of a lie. "Look, Ash, I know you like her." At the mention of his feelings his cheeks brightened red and he prepared himself to launch into a fully fledged defence. "Don't even try to deny it. You should go for it..." Yet again the hat wearing boy's head bowed as he stared at the floor expectantly. "Besides she likes you to." Ash perked up and smiled at the researcher and then looked over to the sleeping girl.

"Thanks Gary. I have one more question."

"Shoot."

"What did Misty mean by 'it's not like you haven't seen what's in there already!' when she called you, the first day she was here in Sinnoh?" Gary speculated the question trying to formulate the memory in his head. A sly smile appeared on his mouth as he remembered the conversation.

"Me and Misty use to date-" Ash jumped up and pointed at the boy.

"You told me you had no feelings for her!" Gary looked around to see everyone still sleeping, Ash's shouting masked over Ritchie's overbearing snoring.

"Calm down Ashy-Boy-"

"Don't call me that!"

"Ash, you're going to wake everyone up! Shut up!" Ash did as told and even returned to his originally sitting position only this time much more distanced from the brunette. "We only went out for about six months-"

"Six months?! Gary for you that is like a lifetime!"

"Will you let me finish just one of my mew-damned sentences?" Ash quietened down and looked back over to the researcher. "Thanks. Like I was saying, we only dated for about six months and it just wasn't working out so we came to a mutual agreement to just be friends. And now she's practically my little sister." The Pokémon trainer stayed silent and only relied with a relieved:

"Oh..." Gary rolled his eyes at the boy's attitude and leaned against the wall.

"I'm going to sleep. Night."

"Night, Gary." The brunette turned to look at the trainer and stated evenly,

"You hurt her, I _will_ kill you." Ash smiled and looked at the boy.

"Wouldn't think about it." Gary smiled and the two drifted off into sleep. The five were found the next morning and the journey continued with a much less uptight Ash.

**[A/N:**

**Me: Awww do we have a little bromance growing here?**

**Ash: Between me and Gary?**

**Gary: Ashy-Boy wishes!**

**Ash: I do not! You stay away from me!**

**Gary: So immature *Sweatdrops***

**Brock: Guess what?**

**Max: MasteringaMuggleLife owns Pokémon!**

**Me: I do?**

**May: No! *Laughs***

**Me: Well that was mean...**

**Drew: *Laughing* She- does- not- own Pokémon.**

**Ash and Gary: Review?**

**Me: Awww see?]**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**[A/N:**

**A shout out to: **

**thedarkpokemaster, Rocketshipping fan, May Drew 4every, Rose Contestshipping fan88, Lucy the pokeshipping fan, AAML-TAML, Farrah, aggies2015, Neon765, Canon's Son, SmilingHidesMyTears, PokefanLA, Poppy the Rabbit (Tessa), Poke ego, musa lover, ultranx, Lil Green Devil, pikaluver1229, SlipknotGhidorah, TheScoutFinch, Amber0522,**

**Want a shout out? Then review :)**

**Thanks, even if it was just one review or even if it is criticism, drop a review I want to know what you guys think :D ]**

It was the third day of travelling, the group of heroes were so close to reaching the Rocket Headquarters. They were making good time and were all set for their mission.

Meanwhile three bumbling idiots were begging for mercy at the feet of their boss. An emotionless man fuelled by money and power. He was not likely to accept their failure again.

"Please Sir, you have to understand." His eyes just stared conveying no emotion. James decided to chime in his opinion, he to on his knees at the bosses feet.

"It wasn't our fault this time, Boss, it really and truly wasn't." The lavender haired man was sweating profusely and made no attempt to cover up his stammer. He stared at the creased face of the heartless figure above him whilst awaiting their verdict. He chanced a glance at his female counter part that looked to be on the brink of tears, this shocked James, the usually strong woman seemed to be so close to breaking, all because of one man. Their feline friend had been dragged away, Jessie and James were unsure of where he was taken yet at the present it wasn't their biggest problem but that didn't seem to stop it from knowing it's way to the front again and again.

"Boss, just one more chance, please?" A tone of pleading showed weakness in the Boss's eyes. A smirk clambered to his face and he held out his hand for the woman to take. She did so accordingly only to be slapped back down to the floor. A sinister look glimmered his eyes. In a defensive stance James towered over Jessie and looked into the eyes of her attacker.

"How dare you! How dare you!" The days of James begging were over, he walked close to the Boss but was quickly restrained by two large ex colleagues.

"That's more like it James. Maybe I will keep you after all." With a stern shake of his head James looked back down at Jessie now looking from one male to the other.

"Not after what you just did." James spat down at the man's feet but this only made his smile grow. He took a stride forward so that he could get a better look at the, in his mind, improved James.

"Take them away." The two were dragged away, parted at the end of the corridor. Each Rocket screamed the name of their partner whilst struggling to tear themselves away from their kidnappers. As their arms reached their limits their hands slowly slipped from the warm embrace of their partners.

"James I'm sorry!" The man looked adoringly at the cherry red haired woman as she was taken away from him.

"Jessie? Jessie! Its okay, I'll get us out of this. And Meowth too." Although in her head she knew the possibility of what the man was saying were slim but her heart refused to believe that James would ever break such a serious promise. She vigorously nodded as tears strolled from her eyes.

"I trust you James." Before making his grand gesture she was out of sight. The man bowed his head and stopped struggling knowing his attempts only to be futile. His feet left marks on the ground as they trailed the floor.

"Everyone clear?" Brock observed the expressions of his friends.

"Yup." Max began to slowly walk the distance into the wide area and to the side of the building in which he flattened himself against. Slowly the young boy snuck around the building and disappeared into the unguarded vents. The moronic Rockets hadn't noticed the young boy sneak into the building, all of them too consumed in talk or by the cigarettes they held in their hands. And now their stupidity would cause them a hell of a lot! Ash smiled as he peered over the branches of the bush they took cover in. His fingers intertwined with the redhead's causing her to flinch. Eventually she melted into his grasp but refused to look him in the eye. He smiled.

A crackled sounded and Brock looked at the walkie-talkie in his hand.

"Max here," A hushed voice created a silence over the group as they intently listened. "I'm in position ready to create a diversion, you guys ready?" Brock nodded then realised Max could not see him.

"We're ready."

"Wait, you guys will not believe this!" Ash held the walkie-talkie to his mouth; his own voice hushed determinedly trying to contain his paranoia.

"Max, what is it?"

"It's-it's-" the line was cut off and suddenly the windows of the headquarters building lit up a bright red an overbearing horn blurted through the trees. May went in a state of panic and snatched the walkie-talkie.

"Max? Max? Max! Where are you? Max, this isn't funny. Max? Answer me Mew-Dammit! Answer me!" Drew grabbed the girl from behind and stared forcefully at the walkie-talkie. "Come on Max, please..." The girl burst into tears. The rest of the group sat there looking at the black device.

A gruff voice spoke through to. It was most definitely not Max.

"Ready or not, here we come." The gang looked at one another and hurriedly began to pack their belongings, all except for May that is but Drew had it covered.

"What have you done with my brother?" A cackle sent shivers down the petite brunettes back.

"He's fine. Why don't you come hand yourself in and we'll make sure he stays that way." She looked up to her friends- all of them nodded in her direction. They hid their luggage under the bush and walked towards the building. Very possibly walking to their doom.

Max was pushed into a small cell. The originally white walls were damp from condensation and patterned with green mould. Black spots decorated the dirty floor and carvings of numbers etched in to the walls dared to tell the stories of past prisoners. An eerie whistle escaped the small single window at the very top of the wall. In the corner was a toilet, grungy and unclean, with the toilet seat broken off. The boy pulled his knees close, wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face into the security of himself. Even that didn't warm the boy.

A jingling of keys sounded in time with the knock of feet against the concrete flooring.

"Don't worry boy your _sisters_ coming to save you." The man sneered and carried on his trek leaving a heartbroken boy to cry over the guilt he felt for dragging his sister into danger.

Using his fingers, James chimed a tune on the metal bars entrapping him in the small confinement of his cell. A crying noise made his stop and he walked as close to the noise.

"Hey, you okay in there." The world stood still, all sounds ceased. "Hello?"

"J-James?" The replier sounded familiar yet James couldn't quite put a face to the name.

"Yes..."

"What are you doing in here; I thought you worked for Team Rocket?" With a huff he responded:

"I did. Team Rocket does not tolerate mistakes." The ex rocket recalled the statement his elder brother had recited to him on constant occasions, every time he messed up to be exact. He wished his brother was still alive to cover u his mistakes... He looked out at the bars to the freedom of the halls and imagined his brother stood there letting him out as usual after somehow managing to get him and his partners off the hook. A sad smile graced his face.

"Oh... Where's Jessie?" The man's mood soured.

"I don't know..."

"Oh..." Clearly this was not the answer the young boy was waiting for.

"Listen kid, you'll be fine. Stay quiet, keep your head down and listen to me, you got that? I won't let anyone hurt you." Again James recited the words of his brother. Happy to finally save someone else for a change. He leant his head on the off white walls and sighed.

Max smiled in his own cell. Never had he heard James so authoritive or so protective over anyone that wasn't Jessie or Meowth.

"Thanks James..." Max only wished that the plan was working. He was going make sure that Jessie James and Meowth got out with them.

**[A/N:**

**Jessie: My grand appearance! Wasn't I fabulous?**

**James: Of course!**

**Jessie: MasteringAMuggleLife?**

**Me: Er, yeah?**

**Jessie: Next time?**

**Me: Uhuh...**

**Jessie: Make sure theres more Jessie time. I killed it out there!**

**Me: ...Okay?**

**Meowth: Mastering-**

**Jessie: *Pushes Meowth out the way* MasteringAMuggleLife does not own Pokemon.**

**James: Bravo Jessie!**

**Jessie: Make sure you review you little twerps!**

**Meowth: That's right!]**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**[A/N:**

**'The Hat' - My new Pokeshipping story! It's all about when Ash finally goes to visit Misty after six years, in case you wanna check it out? Be warned the genre is hurt/comfort but if you like that kind a thing why not check it out? And anyone like songfics? Not read mine? Check them out too! Oh and I also have another fic that I'm going to make another chapter for soon names Ash's Eighteenth, have a look at that, it's pokeshipping! ^_^ Okay, yeah I think I'm done with my mini advertisement lol, sorry about that! Kay so on with the story :D Look I'm not late this week! xD]**

James had wasted his time away by speaking to his new companion, a young boy named Max. He now knew exactly who he was speaking to. The two had been reminiscing different memories that they had shared whilst sharing new stories of their journeys. Neither though upon the memory in a negative way, only laughing at the constant defeat of Jessie, James and Meowth, even James found the memories a fond recollection. Max had managed to get James to speak of Jessie but it seemed fairly painful for the lavender haired man to do so after a while he stopped pursuing the matter. Within a few hours they had created a strong bond of friendship and James had promised to keep young Max safe whilst eating in the prisoner's community cafeteria.

Meanwhile Jessie spent her day in the kitchen where she and a few other prisoners had been assigned kitchen duty. She dropped the slop onto a tray and handed it to a prisoner. The gruel she was handed out revolted her, it looked like barf and smelt even worse. Another plate, for another prisoner, her arm was slowly starting to ache but a soothing voice made it all worthwhile.

"J-Jessie?" The magenta haired woman looked up with hopeful eyes, her mouth smiling at her best friend.

"James!" How badly she wanted to jump into his arms, kiss him or just simply tell him how lucky she is to have a friend like him. But she didn't. She knew she couldn't. Instead she restrained herself, using a fake smile to cover up the pain of sleeping alone in the cold cell.

Of course James didn't fall for her facade, he never did. But then again he wasn't about to cause her more pain by questioning the strong woman, he knew how defensive she could be. He smiled back and accepted his mush on a tray and arranged it so that his hand would brush against her. A faint blush occupied her cheeks and before any more could be say he was being pushed away to a table. Shortly after Max accompanied him at the same circle. Their conversation was put on hold as James spent all of his time staring at his partner in crime, the young boy provided him the time he needed to think about the woman after all he knew how hard it was for two lovebirds be apart, he'd seen it many a time in his sister and her green haired rival.

At the same time, in completely different section of the Team Rocket Headquarters... The group of teenagers were lead through a series of corridors. Two rockets in front and two behind, there was no chance of escape. But then again hat was not exactly what the group of teenagers wanted to do. A bruised man stepped out from one of the doors in the corridor; he narrowed his eyes at the raven haired boy, who instantly remembered him. The man from the Pokémon Centre, the one that Ash had brutally beaten to the floor. A knowing smirk was the last Ash saw of the man as they were directed into a large office like room.

Just like in the movies the office chair spun around revealing the face of none other than Giovanni. His hands locked onto one another and his elbows leaned on his chair. His cold stare paced over each teen, quickly judging them like God, determining their state. Once coming to a firm conclusion he turned to a geeky looking man in a lab coat. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before speaking in a monotonous tone.

"Names." The teenagers glanced at one another, unsure of whether or not to comply. In a more harsh tone the researcher pushed the group, clipboard and pen in hand he repeated himself. "Names."

"Hugh Jass." The rest of the teens burst into a small fit of giggles whilst Gary stood smugly staring at the researcher. To say that he was unimpressed was an understatement.

"His real names Joe King" The researcher began to growl at the immatureness of the gang. The laughter in the room only increased and even Giovanni let a laugh pass his lips only further boosting the two young male's ego. The boss waved off an extremely annoyed man who stormed from the room glaring at each of the prisoners before leaving.

"Very good humour you have there, Gary, Ash." Although stunned that the man was familiar with his name Ash rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Gee, thanks." More perceptive that Ash, Gary narrowed his eyes and looked the Boss of the large and successful company straight in the eyes. No words were exchanged but there seemed to be an understanding between the two. A smirk crossed the bosses face once again.

"Why don't you all take a seat?" The group knew not to disobey direct orders from the Rocket boss even though Ash had just gotten away with disrespecting a Team Rocket member he could not say that he would do the same. Once seated Giovanni nodded his head in the direction of their 'bodyguards' who left without a word of disagreement, it seemed they too knew not to resist their orders. The hat wearing boy fidgeted in his chair earning him a harsh nudge from the redhead sat next to him. He rubbed his side dramatically gaining a classic Misty eye roll, he smiled and brushed off the minor attack, he was accustomed to the typical treatment. He faced the boss expectantly just as everyone else had. "I hope you weren't treated to harshly on your way here?"

Straight to the point May stood up. Prepared to tear the building down now that she had remembered why she was here.

"Where is my brother?" Worried about the girl Drew stood on his own two feet and put his arm around the girls waist, supporting her but at the same time ready to put her right back into her place so that they didn't all end up getting shot right there and then.

"I respect your directness, er," the man chanced a look at the clipboard beside him that had been left by the researcher. "May. Your brother is fine, as a matter of fact; he is being treated with the upmost care." Not quite convinced the female demanded her answers.

"I want to see him." Drew dragged the girl back to her seat and looked anxiously at the Boss.

"I'm sure that can be arranged. As long as you all abide by the following conditions." Drew let out a deep breath and began to mutter soothing words into the female sat next to him. Even though she'd managed to calm down he did not remove his arm from where it was securely attached to her hip.

"And what would these conditions be?" Brock held no note of nervousness as he questioned Giovanni.

"I'm glad you asked-" his eyes scanned the list- "Brock." After doing this he looked over to the young man for any trace of a mistake he could have made in the naming. When he found none he continued: "you will all join Team Rocket." A stunned silence overcame the room as the group of teenagers looked at one another clearly re-evaluating their situations. Ash was the first to speak up.

"Erm, why would you want _us_ to join?"

"You eight teenagers managed to defeat my workers countless times, even my best team of operatives. I have no doubt that you would make great Team Rocket members." More glances were exchanged between the gang of teenagers. Gary Oak was the next to speak.

"And why would we want to do that?"

"Well you can either join our magnificent company or you can rot in our cells for the rest of your miserable lives." The smile did not move from his face throughout his offer. "Your choice, of course."

"We're not going to join you!" She looked over to her friends, all of them nodding in agreement. That was until Dawn meekly placed her hand in the air.

"I, er, would like to join, sir."

"A Dawn, my officer told me about you, sold your own friend out. I like you. You'd make an excellent Rocket member. Nobody else?" The silence spoke for the teenagers and the man in charge pressed a button on the phone. A woman's voice at the receiver.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Stacey, could you please send seven officers to my office to escort our prisoners to their new homes?"

"Certainly, sir, I'll get on it straight away." The phone went dead and the only sound that could be heard were the deep breaths of the prisoners.

"You'll have three days to change your mind. If you still refuse to co-operate we may be forced to take more, desperate measures." Ritchie looked into the eyes of his captor and felt a fear build within him. The man was not lying. Nor was he about to pity the teenagers.

"Dawn, you can stay here and we'll discuss your options." Dawn diverted her eyes to the floor to avoid the stares she was currently getting from her friends. Yet she couldn't get rid of the feeling of betrayal.

Roughly the teens were dragged from their seats back into the maze of corridors. Any attempt they made were ineffectual. At the end of the corridor the males and females were separated.

"Drew!" May's voice was muffled by the powerful hand of her kidnapper. Drew shouted back,

"May!" He wrestled with his own captor but his hold on him was strong. His heavy arm locked around the boy's neck as he was being soundlessly dragged away once again. May gave away to fighting when she could no longer see Drew. Tears tumbled from her eyes as the Team Rocket member grabbed her around her arm and guided her to her cell in which he pushed her in.

"Ash! Gary! Ritchie! Brock!" Misty managed to elbow one of the officers in the face. Ash struggled to push the muscular Rocket member off of him but it only resulted in him being pinned with his face squashed to the wall. Gary did the same but got thrown to the floor and was stood on. Seeing the brutality of the situation Brock stood watching cautiously. Meanwhile Ritchie took a leaf out of Brock's book and allowed the men to carry him away but not before making sure that everyone was okay. It didn't take long for the Rocket to recover from his attack as he violently grabbed the redhead around the waist and lifted her in to the arm. When he placed his hand over the girl's mouth she bit it causing her to get pinned to the wall bluntly. She caught once glimpse at the boy also pushed up against the wall before being physically hauled away.

"Misty..." Yet again she was stuck in the middle of trouble and the brown eyed boy couldn't help but feel responsible. He couldn't protect her. Eventually he was granted the ability to move from the wall. He was spun around and met with an angrily panting Gary. The two began a conversation using their eyes agreeing on the fact that they would get out and save their friends.

Out of the corner of his eye Ash saw a smug looking man in a suit watching the scene unfold him. With a bowed head he allowed the man to take him away...

**[A/N:**

**Jessie: Pft as if I'd be swooning over James!**

**James: ...**

**Misty: Yeah right!**

**Jessie: As if you don't do it with that Pikachu loving twerp!**

**Misty: I do not!**

**Pikachu: zzzzzzz**

**Jessie: Of course not!**

**Meowth: Jess this is our chance to get Pikachu!**

**Jessie: you're right Meowth! *Snatches Pikachu and starts to run away***

**Pikachu: *Wakes up* Pikapi? Pikachupi? *Sees Jessie and rolls eyes* PIKA! *Electrocutes Jessie***

**Jessie: AHHHHHHH!**

**Pikachu: *Jumps and runs over to Ash and goes to sleep on his head* zzzzzz**

**Ash: Oh, hey Buddy!**

**Brock: I have no idea whats going on... Review?**

**Max: Doesn't the disclaimer come first?**

**Ritchie: It's supposed to...**

**Brock: I wanted to change it up, okay?!**

**May: Someones jumpy!**

**Drew: Your time of the month is it Brock?**

**Brock: Shut. Up.**

**Gary: Guess I'll do it then, MasteringAMuggleLife does not own Pokémon, no matter how much she wants to own the amaxing Gary Oak!**

**Me: *Rolls eyes and pushes Gary out of the way* Yeah, yeah, yeah shut up Gary. Review?**

**Brock: I already said that!**

**Me: But doesn't the dis-**

**Brock: I WANTED TO CHANGE IT UP! OKAY?!]**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**[A/N:**

**SO, SO, SO SORRY! I know I am late but I think my computer has a computer because everytime I try to load something on the internet it keeps saying, "the server's security certificate is not yet valid." So I've had to retype the story to my Dad's computer. I don't know if I'll be able to upload for a while because of this... I guess we'll have to see... If anyone knows how I can sort this problem out please PM me, I can access that through my mobile at least. Sorry about all this.]**

For what had felt like days the boys had been stuck in their cells. One boys legs were stiff from the lack of movement yet he refused to stand and walk pointlessly around the small space. A bluenette in a Rocket uniform strutted into the halls between the cells and stopped at the raven haired boy's box room. He crawled over to her and then watched her sink to his level.

"They trust me. I think they believe that I really am this shallow."

"Well..." Through the bars the girl slapped thje boy whilst wearing wearing a disgusted look upon her face.

"Ash how could you say something like that?" Rubbing his cheek he replied,

"Well you did sell Misty out." Feigning a shocked look, she said in a spluttered tone.

"I was under pressure and I didn't want to die!" The boy shook his head.

"Whatever you say Dawn. So, the plan?"

"Er, right! Tomorrow at lunch, they allow you a community lunch, guards stand next to all of the walls. In the hall that you eat in theres only one door, the one that you'll enter through and you'll see this when you walk in there tomorrow. If Max goes through with his distraction, other people should join in. We will be able to sneak out of the hall and walk to Giovanni's office which we now know where it is. From there we should be able to carry out the rest of the plan." After a moment of thought he nodded.

"Have you spoken to the girls?" She nodded her head. "How are they?"

"They're fine, I guess we never expected them to seperate us all, huh?" Ash visibly flinched at the statement before asking Dawn a crucial question.

"think theres anything else we haven't anticipated?" The girl sighed and smiled a bit.

"It'll all be fine Ash, stop worrying."

"I guess you're right. You better hurry before the guard comes back from his break and notices you're in here. We don't need your cover blown."

"Got it!" The girl blitzed through the room leaving no sign that she ws ever there. Meanwhile Ash slunk to the back of his cell.

"You boys hear that?" Several grunts could be heard from different directions.

"So you guys are really busting out of here?" James didn't want to sound naive but he knew the power of the group of children that beat him in Pokémon battles daily. He also knew that if anyone could break out of this hell of a prison it was them. _"I don't to stay stuck in here. I have to get Jessie and Meowth out of here! If those Twerps, I mean kids can do it then I definitley want in."_ The lavender haired man nodded in confirmation.

"Don't worry James; we're going ot get you, Jessie and Meowth out of here to." The words exclaimed by the young boy were spoken with the upmost sincerity. A small smile occupied the grown man's face knowing that the young boy would not let him down. Not one of the other group members refused to help the man, his girlfriend and their pet cat because they knew that during their time time trapped in here the older man had looked after the young boy and for that everyone was grateful. A quiet understanding passed through hte cells.

"We should get some sleep." Brock's first piece of advice of the night. It served them well. Everybody slept well that night knowing that tomorrow they would able to take down the worldwide corporation. Each body held an unwavering conidence, if only they knew what was to come...

The tables had no order to them, as a matter of fact- the prisoners were free to seat themselves wherever they saw fit. Guards positioned themselves around the room as they escorted their own band of misfits into the large white hall. Handcuffs securely bit into the skin of those wearing them and the minute they entered the room they were hit with a sharp, cold wind that crawled along the skin of the captives. Involuntarily each prisoner shivered straight after the one before them like a mocking dance.

In the room Gary (at the front of his pack) noted that their colleague dressed all in black at the far end of the room, nodding tactfully ensuring that none of her fellow Rockets noticed. His eyes dashed across the room in search of three things. Firstly, that akk of the3 information given to them by the hat wearing female was indeed correct, he was unsure of whether or not to trust the once deceitfuil girl yet Brock and Ash had somehow managed to convince the group that she would come through for them. Gary scoffed. _"I'll believe that when I see it."_ The brunette was indeed surprised to have found that nothing too obvious wrong with the scene. Next he counted the number of Rocket officers lining the room walls- twenty one, excluding Dawn. Not one of them with a weapon... Something about this unnerved the brunette but he ignored it and pushed it to the back of his mind. After doing these things and mentally checking them off of his checklist, he looked for the girls. A couple of seconds into the search he found Misty sat with a bunch of muscled men making conversation, and apparently having a good time doing so. Her postion was close to the door they'd just entered through. May, meanwhile, was sat with a couple of girls, much unlike the redhead she did not seem to be appear to be enjoying the current topic of discussion. A disgusted look overtook her features as she slouched away from the table and moreover the girls seated with her. He chuckled at the sight before being slightly pushed towards the serving counter. May was situated at teh rear end of the room, right near a bunch of guards. Lastly he spotted Jessie, the girls must have informed her of the plan because she caught Gary's eye and allowed a lop sided smile. The brunnette nodded in her directio whilst noticing that she was sitting in a fairly rural area of the cafeteria. Everything was in place.

The group of teen boys accepted their slop on a plate respectively and went to sit in different areas of the cafeteria.

Ritchie looked around; he was sat on the tabel next to Max's. He started to sweat as he anxiously waited for the distractionto begin. The scenarios of what could happen had plagues his mind all morning so that now he was exhauisted and the day had only just started. His eye lids dropped slightly but he focuses all his attention on the inedible tray of foot sat before him.

Max made small talk with the other detainees located at his table but mostly he just used the spoon provided to swish the gunk around the tray. There wasn't a chance he was eating this again, not after yesterday. Uneasiness settled in his stomach so he deprived his sight from the horrific excuse for food. He scoured the room the last gaze he saw was that of his sister, staring at him, twiddling her thumbs, very clearly nervous. The boy smiled and placed two thumbs up up. The last thing he wanted was for her to be worried about him. The action did little to calm her nerves but gave her a slight confidence boost, just enough to give the young boy a convincing smile.

With a sigh the boy stoodto his feet and grabbed his tray. The next thing anyone knew was that the room was in panic. The food from the boy's tray covered four of the Rocket officers. Next the plastic tray hurled towards another officer- knocking him unconsious. Just as suspected the other prisoners joined in on the mini rebellion. Gary, Ritchie, Brock, Ash and Misty were on the fours crawling over the dirty surface, seemingly unnoticed.

In one quick second the whole of the chaos stopped. Bang. A gunshot. The bullet soared through the room and implanted itself in an innocent and helpless body. Blood gushed from the wound and on to the floor, vastly filling the small space in the thick red liquid. Several gasps filled the stiff air. A blood curdling scream entrapped itself in the ears of everyone there. Time stopped for a second whilst it claimed its victim.

Gary, Ritchie, Brock, Ash and Misty stood to their feet and observed the scene. May was being held by Drew but struggles to be released from his tight grasp. James had fallen to his knees and a shocked woman had run to his side, burying his face. A lifeless body laid on the floor. Max had been shot. Dead.

Ash looked up and saw the smug face of their abductor. Arms crossed. He knew. Ash placed his head in his hands and felt himself be tugged back to his feet. By now the sounds had been drowned out but he knew May was still screaming, people were still crying, things were being smashed and many of his friends were crying. Whilst being dragged away he saw the look in Misty's eye, telling him it was not his fault. Of course he did not believe this. _"It's my fault Max is dead!"_ Limply he was dragged from the soundless scene.

**[A/N:**

**Me: Now the question is- did Dawn tell Team Rocket the plan?**

**Dawn: I would do no such thing!**

**Jessie: Puh-lease! You're more unfaithful than we are!**

**Dawn: Am not!**

**Meowth: Hate ta break it to yah but yah kinda are**

**Dawn: *Throws a tantrum***

**Me: Yeah.. Brock, do the honours?**

**Brock: She doesn't own it, she never has and never will, do you understand?**

**Me: *Bursts out crying* Why?!**

**Gary: Look at what you did.**

**Brock: Me?**

**Gary: Well who else would it be?!**

**May: *Crying* I can't believe he's dead!**

**Drew: *Hugs May* I know, I know**

**Ash: Uh... Review?]**


	14. Chapter 14

HEY GUYS, SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG, I'M GOING TO REWRITE THE WHOLE OF THIS STORY BECAUSE I'M TOTALLY STUMPED AS WHAT TO DO NEXT AND I FELT I'VE RUSHED IT ALL WHEN I WAS REREADING LAST WEEK. SO IF THERE'S ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR MY REWRITTEN VERSION I'D LOVE TO HEAR THEM, OH AND MAYBE IF THERE WAS SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T LIKE, REVIEW TO TELL ME AND I MAY CHANGE IT, I'LL CONSIDER EACH SUGGESTION ALTHOUGH I MAY NOT USE THEM. SO, THANKS AND I HOPE THAT YOU'LL CONTINUE TO READ MY NEW VERSION AND I'M SORRY YOU'VE HAD TO WAIT SO LONG FOR THIS. SO, THE NEW VERSION SHOULD BE UP NEXT WEEK BUT I'M THINKING OF FINISHING MY EGOSHIPPING FANFIC FIRST SO THAT I CAN FOCUS ON JUST THIS STORY. THANKS TO PEOPLE TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS, YOU'RE ALL AWESOME! OH AND IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHY I'M WRITING IN CAP? YEAH, I WAS JUST TOO LAZY TO CHANGE IT... YEP, SO THAT'S ALL, SORRY TO DISAPPOINT...

-MASTERINGAMUGGLELIFE


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